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The replacement Davis eager to begin daunting task of following Knight
Mike Davis called his appointment Tuesday as Indiana's new interim head basketball coach as one of the biggest days in the history of his hometown of Fayette, Ala. Davis, who played for the University of Alabama spent the last three seasons as an assistant under Bob Knight and was considered a top recruiter for the program. Davis spoke with CNNSI.com's John Giannone on the Indiana campus about taking over for the legendary coach. John Giannone: You will always from this day forward be known as the man who replaced Bob Knight at Indiana. How will you be able to handle that daunting task? Mike Davis: Well I'm not trying to replace Coach Knight. We had 12 guys who stepped up and they wanted me to stay. They wanted [new interim associate] Coach [John] Treloar and I to stay here. And so I just felt like, that they were so emotional about the whole deal that it was important for me to stay here if I was the head basketball coach here this year. I did not want to stay as the assistant basketball coach, only the head coach. But I didn't want them to look back in April and say, "Hey, I made a bad decision by transferring." Jeffrey Newton, I spoke with his grandmother by phone and she told me, "Make sure Jeffrey doesn't do anything quick and crazy." And I thought about that and that was really true. By them standing up for me, I have to stay here for them because I didn't want to be known as the guy who destroyed Indiana basketball program by leaving. Giannone: There were so many emotions running around these last few days and certainly you were so loyal to Bob Knight. Was there ever a point where you said, "Under no circumstances do I want to work for this university," given what they did to Bob Knight? Davis: Well you know I'm loyal to Coach Knight because I'm here because of Coach Knight. Indiana University is big, it's bigger than I am, bigger than anyone because it's a great school. I have to feed my family, I have to take care of my family. But the turning point was the players and yesterday as I was coming down here, my son Mike, he said, "Dad, if they offer you the job, I want you to take it." Giannone: When you talked to Bob Knight about the possibility of taking this job what did he tell you and how important was that? Davis: We never talked about me becoming the head coach because I didn't think they would even offer me the head coaching position. I thought they wanted me to stay here as an assistant coach and bring someone else in to oversee Coach Treloar and myself. But the players were so strong and plus it's so late. You know, it's September and you start practicing in a month. So they made a decision to keep me here and I think the fans this year will really support the players and Indiana. You have past players who want the tradition of Indiana basketball to continue. Giannone: Mike, thank you. Davis: Thank you. Giannone: Mike Davis will turn 40 on Friday. His early birthday present, the head coaching job at Indiana.
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