Five years ago, Mike Davis was courageous enough to succeed a legend by taking over an Indiana program on the verge of anarchy after the dismissal of Bob Knight.
Davis stabilized the program, which countless players were threatening to flee, and guided the Hoosiers to a 21-13 record and the NCAA tournament in his first season as a head coach.
He followed that with a 25-12 record and a Final Four appearance in 2002. And in 2003, he led the Hoosiers to a 21-13 record and into the tournament once again.
That made him the first coach in school history to start his tenure with three straight 20-win seasons and tournament appearances, yet it did him no good when his teams slipped into mediocrity in 2004 and ’05.
The mess Davis inherited? Forgotten. That Final Four appearance? Didn’t deliver the goodwill others usually receive. Those 20-win seasons? Older than yesterday’s fad.
So he was attacked and left on the defensive, constantly questioned about his future, about the pressures he felt. Davis is an open man not given to coach-speak, and he always responded, often with palpable emotions.
“I still have to prove myself because of where I am,” he said just months after the Final Four appearance. “When you’re at certain places, that’s part of it. Unless you have another name and have been here 15 years, that would allow you an off-year.
“But I love my situation. I have stomach pains. Headaches. Sleepless nights. But if you’re a competitor, what better job to have?”
Then a year ago, when rumors of his imminent firing were rampant, he said, “I’m used to it. I understand. I think I’ve developed maturity more than anyone in the country. But stuff builds up in you and you try to explain, defend yourself all the time.”
This history is important for Davis, whose Hoosiers are 5-2 and ranked No. 18 as they face a Monday night game at Charlotte.
They have lost narrowly to No. 1 Duke and throttled No. 15 Kentucky by 26 points. They have the deepest collection of talent in the Big Ten and have succeeded even while awaiting the return of sophomore forward D.J. White, who is due back Monday from the broken foot he suffered in the preseason.
Still, whispers persist that Davis will be fired if he doesn’t make the NCAA tournament.
“That’s their opinion,” he says. “Other people say I have to make the Elite Eight. It’s just, I know I’ve done a good job.”
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He then talks of his tough schedules, of fans’ expectations, of expected losses last year to Connecticut, Kentucky and North Carolina.
“So I don’t get caught up in that,” he says. “That’s just somebody’s opinion, trying to justify what they’re trying to justify. You want us to go deep in the tournament? OK. How deep do you want us to go?
“Anyone else who would have been in my shoes and done what I’ve done, they’d be saying, `Boy, he did a great job.’ Now they’re saying I should win. Last year you wanted me to, but you wanted me to do it with less [talent]. Now I should win. I’ll be the first one to tell you we should win. And we will win.”
It is clear that Davis is still enmeshed in the same web that enveloped him the moment he succeeded Knight. His accomplishments appear not to buttress him, nor do those of the deep and talented group he leads.
He claims to care little about his critics. Yet in the next breath he is responding to them and offering defenses that are unneeded.
The Hoosiers of the last two seasons were either deeply flawed or preternaturally young. They lacked a true point guard, an inside game, the kind of player leadership any good team needs, and too often their offense stagnated as they looked to Bracey Wright to bail them out.
Now his kids are older, and Wright, a guard who never met a shot he didn’t like, is gone, replaced as the primary threat by senior forward Marco Killingsworth. Killingsworth transferred from Auburn and has not only given the Hoosiers the post presence they’ve been lacking but also a toughness they have sorely needed.
“We’d let little distractions come in last year,” he says, thinking of the group he worked against in practice. “Guys were looking at individual stats and trying hard not to lose. Guys were like, `I hope we’re going to get this game. Let’s try to get this game.’ Don’t say try, you know.
“Now you see our practices, guys go at it. It wasn’t like that. I know they’re not scared now. When we play against a team, I don’t have to worry about someone being afraid out there.”
Nor should Davis worry any longer about those whispers. They always will be part of his deal, which he knows.
But he already has produced more than most thought he could, already has survived longer than most believed he would.
With these Hoosiers, he has a chance to shut them up for good.
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