Memphis men’s basketball head coach Penny Hardaway announced two additions to the team’s staff on Wednesday, with Mike Davis and Nolan Smith joining the program as assistant coaches for the 2024-25 season.
Davis comes to Memphis after spending the last six seasons as head coach at Detroit Mercy (2018-24). His coaching resume touts 35-plus years of experience on the sideline, including 24 years of head coaching experience with 14 postseason trips. His squads have recorded at least 20 wins nine times, while posting a winning record in 15 of his 24 campaigns.
“I am excited to have coach Davis as part of our program,” Hardaway said. “He is a veteran coach and brings a winning mentality to the team with an impressive resume to back it up, both on and off the court.
“Mike has won at the highest level, achieved great success and is a proven leader of young men. He will serve our program in the office, on campus and in the community. We are happy to have Mike and his family in Memphis.”
Smith arrives on campus after spending the last eight seasons as an assistant coach or director of basketball operations at the high-major level. He most recently served as an assistant coach the last two years at Louisville (2022-24), after spending the previous six seasons alongside the legendary Mike Krzyzewski at Duke (2016-22).
“Nolan is a grit and grind guy and is one of the brightest young coaches in college basketball,” Hardaway said. “He works hard and has a passion for the game that is unmatched.
“He brings a championship mindset to our team after not only having won a national championship as a player, but also by learning from one of the all-time greats in Mike Krzyzewski. Our players are going to love being in the gym with Nolan and we are excited to have him and his family as part of Tiger Nation.”
MIKE DAVIS | ASSISTANT COACH
Mike Davis, who most recently spent six seasons as the bench boss at Detroit Mercy, has compiled a 412-360 overall record with nine NCAA Tournament appearances in 24 seasons as a head coach with stops at Indiana, UAB, Texas Southern and Detroit Mercy. He earned four trips to the Big Dance with Indiana, one with UAB and four with Texas Southern.
Davis is perhaps best known as the successor at Indiana to legendary coach Bobby Knight, leading the Hoosiers to the national championship game and Big Ten regular-season title in 2002.
Davis’ long list of accolades also include being named Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2011 while at UAB and earning Southwestern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2013, 2015 and 2016 while at Texas Southern.
He won five regular season titles with UAB (2011) and Texas Southern (2013, 2015-17), and also brought home four SWAC Tournament titles in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018.
While at Detroit Mercy, Davis coached his son Antoine Davis for five seasons, who ended up being one of the greatest scorers in college basketball history. The younger Davis wrapped his career as the 2nd-leading all-time scorer in Division I history with 3,664 points, just three shy of LSU’s “Pistol” Pete Maravich (3,667).
Antoine Davis also became college basketball’s 3-point king with 588 career makes, while being a 2-time Horizon League Player of the Year and a 5-time First Team All-Horizon League selection.
In his six seasons at Texas Southern (2012-18), he posted a 115-89 (.564) record, including an 88-20 mark in conference play. His teams won four regular-season titles and four conference tournament championships advancing to four NCAA Tournaments. In his final season at the helm, the Tigers won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game defeating North Carolina Central in the First Four.
Under his leadership, five Tigers were named the SWAC Player of the Year, a feat which had never occurred in the league and was the fourth-longest streak in the history of the NCAA. In addition, 11 earned All-League honors, three were tabbed the Defensive Players of the Year, two were selected the Newcomer of the Year and one was picked the Freshmen of the Year.
He started his collegiate head-coaching career at Indiana University from 2000-06, where he compiled a 115-79 overall record, a 55-41 mark in the Big Ten, and led the Hoosiers to five postseason tournaments, including a run to the NCAA Championship game in 2002. Davis’ teams played some of their best basketball during the postseason tallying a 21-12 record in the month of March and a 7-4 NCAA Tournament mark.
He was named the 25th head coach in Indiana history on Sept. 12, 2000, succeeding Knight, and had the most successful first season of any of his 24 predecessors going 21-13 and finishing fourth in the Big Ten at 10-6. His 21 wins were four more than any other first-year IU head coach. He was also the first coach in Indiana history to open his tenure with three straight 20-plus win seasons and three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances as he directed the Hoosiers to a share of the 2002 Big Ten championship and an appearance in the 2002 national championship game, while also defeating 22 nationally-ranked opponents.
After Indiana, Davis was named the head coach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), where he led the Blazers to a 122-72 (.629) overall record with a 62-34 mark in Conference USA during his six years (2006-12).
Davis led the Blazers to the program’s first-ever Conference USA regular season title in 2010-11. In doing so, he was named the 2011 Conference USA Coach of the Year, while also earning NABC All-District Coach of the Year accolades.
In 2010-11, Davis also guided the Blazers to an NCAA Tournament at-large berth with a record of 22-9 and a 12-4 mark in league play. UAB earned at least 20 victories in the regular season in four-straight years during Davis’ tenure (2007-2012), marking the first time that feat had been in achieved in program history.
Under Davis, the program clinched four consecutive postseason berths (three NITs and one NCAA Tournament). Davis subsequently etched his name in the record books as he became only the second coach in UAB history to reach 90 wins in a four-year span. The only other coach in program history to accomplish the feat was Hall of Famer and former Memphis Tiger head coach Gene Bartow, who reached the pinnacle with a school-record 94 victories from 1983-87.
Davis is married to Tamilya Davis and the couple has one son, Antoine.
Davis is also the father of Mike Davis, Jr., who was a member of the Indiana and UAB men’s basketball team that he coached and was an assistant with him at Texas Southern and Detroit Mercy, and he also has one daughter, Lateesha.
Mike Davis Coaching Career
1990-95 Assistant Coach, Wichita Falls Texans / Chicago Rockers
1995-97 Assistant Coach, Alabama
1997-00 Assistant Coach, Indiana
2000-06 Head Coach, Indiana
2006-12 Head Coach, UAB
2012-18 Head Coach, Texas Southern
2018-24 Head Coach, Detroit Mercy
NOLAN SMITH | ASSISTANT COACH
Nolan Smith, a former All-American, national champion and NBA Draft pick, joined the University of Louisville men’s basketball staff in April 2022 under head coach Kenny Payne.
Prior to UofL, Smith was a member of the men’s basketball staff at his alma mater Duke for the previous six seasons. He served as an assistant coach at Duke in 2021-22 after previously working as the Blue Devils’ director of basketball operations and player development for three seasons (2018-21), as well as two years as the team’s special assistant (2016-18).
A consensus first-team All-American and ACC Player of the Year in 2011, Smith helped lead Duke to three consecutive ACC championships (2009-11) and the 2010 NCAA title in his four seasons (2007-11). The two-time All-ACC selection (2010-11) led the ACC in scoring as a senior (20.6 ppg) when he was team captain and the 2011 ACC Tournament MVP. His 764 points that year is the ninth-highest total in program history.
He helped Duke bring home the 2010 NCAA Championship while earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the NCAA South Regional in Houston and All-Final Four Team accolades in Indianapolis. The Upper Marlboro, Maryland native ranks 17th on Duke’s career scoring chart with 1,911 points and helped lead the Blue Devils to a combined 121-22 record, the fifth-most victories for a player at Duke and sixth in ACC history. Duke had a collective 65-2 record (.970) at Cameron Indoor Stadium in his career there to set program records for both home wins and winning percentage in a four-year period.
Smith won an international gold medal with USA Basketball at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, averaging 9.0 points and 3.5 assists per game.
Following his graduation, Smith was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 21st overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. He played four seasons in professional basketball in the NBA, G-League and abroad.
In the summer of 2016, Smith was named the North Carolina state ambassador for Teen Cancer America. TCA is an organization designed to help bridge the gap between pediatric and adult oncology care. In addition to his work with TCA, Smith has invested time in raising awareness of social justice issues and was named a George H.W. Bush Points of Light Inspiration honoree in 2020. He was also recognized as the Tar Heel of the Month in October 2020 by the Raleigh News & Observer, awarded to a citizen that has made significant contributions to North Carolina and the region.
Smith and his wife Cheyna have a young daughter, Camryn, and a young son, Derek.
Nolan Smith Coaching Career
2016-18 Special Assistant, Duke
2018-21 Director of Basketball Operations & Player Development, Duke
2021-22 Assistant Coach, Duke
2022-24 Assistant Coach, Louisville
