Keno Davis, son of former Iowa head coach Tom Davis, left Drake today to accept a 7 year 7 million dollar contract to coach the Providence Friars.  Why am I blogging on this?

In high school I played against Keno Davis or at least the short time he was on the court.  He wasn’t a great basketball player at all and rarely played.  When he was in the game I scored and my team scored a lot.  Am I jealous that he’s making a mill a year plus all kinds of perks for getting this job?  YES.  Of course I am.  In my mind I keep saying, “Keno Davis could barely walk and chew gum at the same time.  He got mocked by all the opposing fans because he was Tom Davis’ son and he was horrible at basketball. ”  I have issues.

However, Keno can coach but he has his work cut out for him.  He is going into the toughest conference in the country and taking over a senior laden program.  He’ll have to recruit fast but win today.  If he stayed at Drake he could coach there for the next 25-30 years and be a legend like his father is in the state.  By going to Providence he is going to have to work some magic if he is even to stay for the 7 years of his contract.  I’m not saying that he can’t coach because he can but the Big East is no Missouri Valley and the man is very brave to make this move. 

Keno wasn’t just taught by his father but by Bruce Pearl as well.  Keno was an assistant at Southern Indiana while Pearl was there and as much as I dislike Pearl for what he tried to do to Illinois, I respect him greatly as a basketball coach.

Do I think Keno Davis will make it as a coach at Providence?  No, but he will make it as a coach in collegiate basketball somewhere else.  This is his first real experience at a big time university in a big time conference and he’s going to have a tough tough time recruiting against the big boys. 

 I hope he makes it because he took a lot of grief as a high school kid being Tom Davis son.  Maybe if he makes it Tom Davis will be known as Keno’s dad.  That’d be nice.

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