A Landover, Maryland native with head coaching experience and vast DMV connections, David Cox joined Kevin Willard‘s staff on Monday.
Cox comes to Maryland after serving as the head coach at Rhode Island for four seasons. Before that, Cox was an associate head coach at Rhode Island and Rutgers, assistant coach at Georgetown and director of operations at Pittsburgh.
The DMV native has also coached both high school and AAU basketball in the local area and arrives in College Park with deep local recruiting ties.
“We are thrilled that David is joining our staff at Maryland,” said Willard. “He grew up right near our campus and has tons of connections to the DMV. He brings a wealth of experience as a head coach and more than 20 years on the sidelines in the Northeast. He has developed some of the best players in the Big East and Atlantic 10 and we are excited for him to make a major impact with the Terrapin basketball program. It’s great that we get to welcome him and his family home to Maryland.”
“I am humbled and honored to be able to come home to Maryland and be a part of the Terp family,” said Cox. “I grew up in Landover, Len Bias’ hometown. I went to games at Cole and Comcast Center and coached many future Terps over the years. I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the staff with Kevin. This is a great fit and we can’t wait to get to work recruiting and developing the future stars of Maryland basketball.”
Cox won 64 games as head coach of the Rams from 2018-22 and was one of 20 coaches included on HereSports.com’s list of candidates for National Coach of the Year in 2020. With a record of 13-5 in league play in the 2019-20 season, Cox tied for the third-most conference wins in a season in Rhode Island history. Future Terp, then-Ram Fatts Russell earned Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference and All-Defensive Team honors, while senior Jeff Dowtin was a third-team selection. Dowtin also earned Academic All-Conference honors for the third straight season.
Russell, who transferred to and played for the Terps in 2021-22, was a two-time All-Atlantic 10 selection under Cox and established himself as one of the best players in Rhode Island history. Russell is 13th in scoring all-time with 1,594 points and holds the Rams program steals record with 213.
Despite inheriting a team that had lost six seniors who went on to play professional basketball. Cox led Rhode Island to an 18-15 record, including a 9-9 mark in Atlantic 10 action in 2018-19. He was named as one of 12 national finalists for the 2019 Joe B. Hall Award, which is presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I. The Rams advanced to the A-10 semifinals, upsetting top-seeded VCU in the quarterfinals. Junior forward Cyril Langevine earned Second Team All-Conference honors and a spot on the league’s All-Defensive Team. Junior Jeff Dowtin was named to the Academic All-Conference Team.
Cox was named as head coach in 2018 after four seasons as an assistant coach on Dan Hurley’s staff with URI. The final two of those seasons were spent as the team’s associate head coach. Cox joined the Rhode Island staff in May, 2014 after spending the previous four seasons as an associate head coach at Rutgers.
The Rams made two NCAA Championship appearances and one NIT appearance with Cox as an assistant coach, advancing to the second round all three times. Rhode Island also claimed the program’s first Atlantic 10 regular-season title in 2018 and its second conference tournament title in 2017.
In November of 2017, Cox was ranked as the No. 23 assistant coach in the country by LockDraft.com. Over his first three seasons with the Rams, the team had gone 65-35 with a pair of postseason appearances. In 2016-17, Rhode Island made its first NCAA Championship appearance since 1999, upsetting Creighton in the opening round before falling just short against eventual Final Four participant Oregon in the second round. In Cox’ first season in Rhode Island, the Rams went to the 2015 NIT and made it to the second round.
During his time at URI, Cox was instrumental in the recruitment of Indiana transfer Stanford Robinson, Jeff Dowtin, Michael Tertsea and Russell. He was the primary recruiter for the 2018 class, which was ranked as a Top-25 class nationally.
While at Rutgers from 2010-14, Cox was the Scarlet Knights’ associate head coach, helping the program recruit the 15th-best class in 2011. He served as the interim head coach for a three-game stint in December 2012, leading Rutgers to a 3-0 record.
From 2007-10, Cox served as an assistant at Georgetown, helping to guide the Hoyas to a trio of post-season appearances. In 2007-08, Georgetown compiled a 28-6 overall record en route to winning the Big East Championship and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The 2009-10 Hoya squad also won 28 games and en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance. Cox entered the college ranks as the director of basketball operations at Pittsburgh for the 2006-07 season and was part of the Panthers’ staff that went 29-8 and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Cox first coached at the high school level at Archbishop Carroll in Washington, D.C. from 1996-99. He spent the next seven years as an assistant principal at his alma mater, St. John’s Prep in Washington, D.C. from 1999-2006, where he oversaw the school’s athletic department, supervised all extra-curricular activities and served as the school’s head of discipline.
Cox began his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Washington D.C. Assault AAU program. He helped guide the team to the under-16 national championship in 2004. Several of his players earned college scholarships, including Tre Kelley (South Carolina), Chris McCray (Maryland), Michael Beasley (Kansas State/Miami Heat), Nolan Smith (Duke), Dante Cunningham (Villanova/Portland Trail Blazers), Arinze Onuaku (Syracuse) and Adrian Bowie (Maryland).
A 1995 graduate of William & Mary with a degree in sociology, Cox was a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter at point guard for the Tribe for head coaches Chuck Swenson and Charlie Woollum. He finished his collegiate career with 670 points, 216 rebounds, 336 assists and a .352 3-point field goal percentage and his name is located throughout the Tribe’s record book. Cox still ranks among school leaders in several statistical categories, including 3-point field goals made (sixth, 137), total assists (eighth, 336); and 3-point field goal percentage (ninth, .352). His career-high 12 assists against George Mason in 1995 still ranks third among all-time single-game performances in W&M basketball history.
In 1996, Cox earned his master’s degree in education from William & Mary. He and his wife Tasha have two children, Leila and Jacob.
