Davis leads Drake to No. 5 seed in NCAA tournament

Keno Davis got his first taste of the NCAA Division I basketball tournament as a Southeast Missouri State assistant nearly a decade ago.

Davis is headed back to the Big Dance -- this time as a rookie head coach in charge of the nation's biggest surprise team.

"It's been a great ride," Davis said.

Davis led Drake University to its first NCAA tournament berth since 1971, and only its second winning season in 20 years.

But Drake was not some late-season wonder that got hot to win its conference tournament and earn an automatic NCAA bid.

The Bulldogs have been America's darlings for much of the campaign, going 28-4 and climbing to No. 16 in the latest Associated Press poll despite being picked to finish ninth in the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference.

Drake, the MVC regular-season and tournament champion, earned a No. 5 seed for the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs will play Western Kentucky (27-6) in a first-round game Friday in the West region.

"It's crazy, absolutely crazy," said Davis, a leading candidate for national coach of the year. "It's definitely caught me by surprise, to be able to do all this."

Davis, who turned 36 a week ago today, gives part of the credit for his readiness to be a head coach to the six seasons he spent at Southeast under Gary Garner.

Davis received his initial Division I coaching opportunity when he was hired as part of Garner's first staff at Southeast before the 1997-98 season.

During his first four years in Cape Girardeau, Davis filled the third and final spot on the staff, which generally is referred to as the limited earnings position.

But Davis was one of Garner's top assistants for his final two seasons with the program, and credits Garner for a good part of his coaching development.

"I obviously owe a ton of the credit to coach Garner and the opportunity he gave me," Davis said. "He gave me my first Division I job, and allowed me to work my way from the third position up the ladder."

Davis was part of the most successful period in Southeast's Division I men's basketball history, with a three-year record of 62-28 from 1998 through 2001.

Included in that group is the 1999-2000 squad that won the program's only Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles, leading to Southeast's only NCAA Division I tournament berth.

"That program we took over made a lot of strides," Davis said. "It taught me a lot about how to build a program."

Davis got more out of his six-year stay in Cape Girardeau than enhancing his basketball knowledge.

He also met his future wife here.

The former Krista Haukap is one of the top volleyball players in Southeast history, helping produce three OVC regular-season and tournament titles from 1997 through 2000. She is the program's career Division I leader in kills.

Davis and Krista welcomed their first child into the world in December. Their son turned 4 months old last Wednesday.

"It's been a pretty nice year," Davis said.

Davis left Southeast after the 2002-03 season to become an assistant at Drake after his father -- renowned coach Tom Davis -- took over the program.

When Tom Davis retired following last season, his son was named his successor.

Drake went 17-15 during its final season under Tom Davis, marking the Bulldogs' first winning record since the 1986-87 campaign -- when Garner was their coach.

Garner was also the last Drake coach before Keno Davis to reach the postseason, as Garner's 1985-86 Bulldogs made the NIT.

Davis recalled that even before his father took over at Drake, Garner never bad-mouthed the school that let him go despite having some of its most successful seasons in quite a while.

That made Davis even more excited when he joined his father's staff.

"I'd always had conversations with coach Garner about the school he was let go at, and he had nothing but positive things to say about Drake, even before I had any idea I'd be going there," Davis said.

Davis worked as an assistant at Division II Southern Indiana under current Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl before coming to Southeast.

"I have had a great advantage to not only work for my father, but for coach Pearl and for coach Garner," Davis said.

Davis admitted he had absolutely no idea this kind of success was in store for his first season as a head coach.

While Drake had a solid 2006-07 campaign, the Bulldogs only went 6-12 in the MVC. And they graduated four starters off that squad, which is why they were picked to finish next-to-last in the MVC this year.

Despite having two former walk-ons in the lineup, the Bulldogs got off to a hot start and haven't let up. They have been the talk of the nation for much of the season.

"It's been an unbelievable experience," said Davis, who added he has no idea what the NCAA tournament might have in store for the Bulldogs. "We just hope to keep playing well and see what happens."