South Dakota head men’s basketball coach Todd Lee named Brad Davidson an assistant coach on Thursday. Davidson joins Gameli Ahelegbe as part of the Coyote coaching staff.
“Brad comes highly recommended from people that both of us have known for a long time,” Lee said. “He has high character with great knowledge of the game. He is going to be great at player development and recruiting for us.
“We are excited to have him and his family join us.”
Davidson, a former National Shooting Coach for Basketball Australia, comes to South Dakota after two years at North Dakota. He helped the Fighting Hawks to the 2017 NCAA Tournament after sweeping the Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament titles. That same season, North Dakota ranked No. 26 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, sinking 39 percent of its long-range shots. The mark was nearly a 100-position improvement over the previous year.
“I’m excited to join coach Lee at USD,” Davidson said. “Coach Lee and I have many mutual friends, whose opinions I trust. These people have been friends with him, coached with and have played for him. They all spoke highly of coach Lee as a basketball coach and more importantly, a person, and his resume of winning speaks for itself.”
A former professional player, Davidson played 13 years in the National Basketball League, the top division in Australia where he ranks as one of the all-time best shooters with a 40.1 percent career mark from long range. He made more than 600 3-point baskets for five teams from 1997-2009.
He then moved to the coaching realm, where he was the head coach of the West Adelaide Bearcats (2009) and Norwood Flames (2011-13) of Australia’s Premier League.
In 2014, Davidson was named the National Shooting Coach and Talent Identification Manager for Basketball Australia. In his three years with the program, he provided coaching for the men’s and women’s national teams and instituted a national shooting testing program for the teams. The Australian men’s team advanced to the semifinals of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
A native of Mullumbimby, New South Wales, Australia, Davidson helped the Australian men’s national team win the Gold Medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Davidson and his wife, Megan, have two sons, Cooper and Finn, and two daughters, Zara and Zoe.
“It will be a pleasure to come each day and coach in the amazing facilities that have been built at USD,” Davidson added. “My family and I can’t wait to integrate ourselves into the USD community.”
http://www.goyotes.com/news/2018/5/10/mens-basketball-lee-hires-davidson-as-assistant-coach.aspx
