COLUMN: CMU in good hands with Davis
Like the netting being snipped away from the orange iron during the Ides of March, Keno Davis has become a symbol of success for the Central Michigan men’s basketball program.
The Chippewas’ fourth-year head coach has taken CMU’s team and turned its previously lackluster reputation on its head. McGuirk Arena is now one of the toughest gymnasiums to play in across the Mid-American Conference and its home team carries unprecedented expectations this season.
Davis and his coaching staff have earned this moment — one they are expected to shine during.
Three seasons ago, failing seemed to be the only thing CMU men’s basketball was known for. Davis had to endure the pain that comes with rebuilding from the bootstraps on the recruiting and advertising fronts.
He won just seven MAC games during his first two seasons. McGuirk Arena continued to go largely empty and Mount Pleasant was a virtual basketball wasteland.
Each offseason, Davis would travel across the state and country, trying to find his way into the living rooms of recruits he knew he would be lucky to get. He was trying to out-sell coaches like Tom Izzo and Tom Crean, who had realistic national championship aspirations and decades of successful basketball culture as their ammunition.
All Davis had was his word and a whole lot of hope.
He solicited under-appreciated role players on other teams at smaller schools, gauging their interest in winning a conference title at a little mid major up north. He reminded these hidden gems that at CMU, playing time would be increased, and thus, the chance of getting noticed by NBA scouts would go up as well.
And there was a major sell job to do at home as well.
After Ernie Zeigler was fired in the spring of 2012, students, alumni and most importantly donors had a rancid taste in their mouths regarding CMU basketball. Somehow, the mediocre 6-6 football team that year felt like it had more upside.
With the help of the Athletics Department’s marketing team, Davis gave away free pizza at games, preached transparency with the media and promised his program was worth paying attention to during the winter semester.
A few of those highly-sought after recruits took a chance on Davis. His best player stayed healthy enough to earn MAC Player of the Year runner up honors last season. Suddenly the hashtag #PackMcGuirk circulated through Twitter feeds at lightspeed.
Basketball is back in Mount Pleasant, and Davis’ mission is nearly complete.
Raising a MAC Championship banner and earning the resulting trip to the NCAA Tournament is the next and most important item on Davis’ list — something that has not been accomplished here since 2003.
When that day comes, and it will, Davis won’t take much time to sit back and enjoy the moment. He’s worked too hard to rest on his laurels.
No. Davis can clearly recall what it is like to be at the bottom of the heap and have everyone doubt your potential.
And soon, he will know just how rewarding building a winner from the ground up can be.
