Revered Davis has turned Iowa school into a winner

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He still owns a house in Iowa City and has good friends in the administration at Iowa, the school he coached at for 13 years. And now, Dr. Tom Davis can also claim a victory over the Hawkeyes.

It happened a week ago, when long-suffering Drake finally beat the Hawkeyes, ending 27 years of frustration against its in-state nemesis. The atmosphere in Des Moines was electric, and a sellout crowd at the Knapp Center exploded at the conclusion of a relatively easy 75-59 Drake victory.

"Certainly the in-state thing by itself creates enthusiasm, and when we had been on the short end for 27 years, it magnifies that," said Davis, who is in his fourth year at Drake. "It was pretty exciting. Drake is a small university. Something like that is bigger on a smaller campus."

Davis himself casts quite a shadow after becoming one of the nation's most well-known coaches during his 13 years at Iowa. In 1999, at age 60, the popular Davis was forced out in Iowa City and replaced by Steve Alford.

For four years, Davis "tried out retirement," always keeping his eyes open but never really pursuing another job. He played lots of golf, traveled, watched his son, Keno, as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State. He even taught a class for Central Michigan at their Kansas City campus.

When Drake, which had experienced 17 consecutive losing seasons, came calling in 2003, Davis decided he would give it a shot. He was still revered in the state, the pressure and expectations would certainly be different in Des Moines than in Iowa City, and it offered him an opportunity to work with his son.

"I had been in his ear for a long time about joining him on his staff," said Keno, who was a grad assistant for his father at Iowa before coaching at Southern Indiana and Southeast Missouri State. "When he got this job, I was in his ear quite a bit."

The deal has worked out as well as Davis could have hoped. The Bulldogs have made steady improvement, culminating in this year's 8-2 squad which starts four seniors. Keno has been guaranteed the head job with a four- or five-year contract when Davis decides to leave. And he is enjoying coaching basketball for the sake of coaching basketball.

"It is no longer my career," he said. "It is more just something I want to try to do because it would be fun to see if we could get something going at Drake. When you go back under those grounds, you don't worry about what you are going to do next year. You just do it and have fun with it, and then when it is not fun, you stop doing it. It takes a lot of pressure off that you put on yourself when you are in the midst of your career."

Davis leans heavily on his staff, wanting them to be fully prepared when he hands over the reins. At age 68 with a senior-laden team, a solid three-man recruiting class coming in next year and Keno in line to take over, it would not be a shock to see Davis step aside at the end of the season, especially if Drake can accomplish its first winning season since 1986-87.

Speculation as to when Davis will exit has not hurt the program with Keno, the program's chief recruiter, in line to take over.

"I can talk to our recruits about the consistency that is going to be in our program," Keno said. "Most of the time, the coach will either have a chance to move on and go somewhere else, or you're worried about whether you are going to be there. We have a good situation here."

Good enough to be in the running for the unofficial state championship. Both Drake and Northern Iowa have swept Iowa and Iowa State this season, leaving the two Missouri Valley schools to battle for the mythical crown.

"When I was the coach at Iowa at first, I used to say, 'There's no state championship,'" Davis said. "But you quickly realize [the other schools] are playing for the state championship. It only took me a year at Iowa to realize it. So if [Northern Iowa or Drake] sweeps, one of us has it. If we split, we'll share it."

Dragons breathing fire

Drexel has knocked off Villanova, Syracuse and Temple during its seven-game winning streak, and coach Bruiser Flint isn't surprised.

"I think we have a good team, to be honest with you," Flint said after the Syracuse win. "I think we are coming into these games thinking we have a good chance to win."

Junior center Frank Elegar had 27 points and 10 rebounds in the 84-79 victory at Syracuse, Drexel's first win over a ranked opponent since 1996.

In addition to the two Big East wins, Drexel beat Saint Joseph's, 72-56, in early December. It has been a great month after a rough November, during which Drexel lost to Rider and Penn.

"We weren't preparing well," said Flint, whose team is one of the favorites to win the Colonial Athletic Association. "Like I said, 'Don't cheat yourself', because I felt we had a team that could win these type of games."