Richard James Davey Jr. (born April 5, 1942) is a retired American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach. Davey is best known for being head men's basketball coach at

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic M ...

from 1992 to 2007. Most recently, Davey was the associate head men's basketball coach at Stanford University under head coach

Johnny Dawkins Johnny Earl Dawkins Jr. (born September 28, 1963) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the UCF men's basketball team. From 2008 to 2016, he was the head coach of Stanford. He was a two-time All-American ...

from 2008 to 2012 and helped Stanford win the

2012 National Invitation Tournament The 2012 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2012 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 13 on campus sites and ended on March ...

Early life, education, and baseball career

Born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, Davey grew up in

Ceres, California Ceres is a city in Stanislaus County, California. Its population was 49,302 at the 2020 U.S. Census, up from 45,417 at the 2010 U.S. Census. It is part of the Modesto metropolitan statistical area. Ceres is located in the San Joaquin Valley a ...

. His father, also named Dick Davey, played college basketball at

Modesto Junior College Modesto Junior College (MJC) is a public community college in Modesto, California. It is part of Yosemite Community College District along with Columbia College. MJC, and Columbia College, belong to the California Community College system a ...

and the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The ...

and was later a basketball coach at Ceres Union High School. At Ceres Union High, Davey played on three sports teams as a football quarterback, basketball guard, and baseball catcher. After graduating from Ceres Union in 1960, Davey attended the College of the Pacific (later

University of the Pacific University of the Pacific may refer to: *University of the Pacific (Colombia) *University of the Pacific (Ecuador) *University of the Pacific (Peru) * University of the Pacific (United States) *University of Asia Pacific, Bangladesh * University of ...

) in

Stockton Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom *Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk *Stockton, Chirbu ...

, playing on the varsity basketball team at guard from 1961 to 1964 and varsity baseball from 1962 to 1964. Under head coach Dick Edwards in 1963–64, Davey averaged 9.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in 26 games on a 15–11

Pacific Tigers men's basketball The Pacific Tigers men's basketball team represents the University of the Pacific. They are an NCAA Division I member, part of the West Coast Conference. The team is based in Stockton, California. They play their home games at the Alex G. Spanos ...

team. On the

Pacific Tigers baseball The Pacific Tigers represent the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in intercollegiate athletics. The Tigers compete in NCAA Division I, and are currently in their second stint as members of the West Coast Conference (WCC). Con ...

team, Davey earned All-

West Coast Athletic Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...

honors in 1963 and 1964. Davey graduated from Pacific with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...

in 1964. After graduating, Davey played minor league baseball in the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

farm system as a catcher and outfielder, for the Decatur Commodores in 1964 and

Magic Valley Cowboys The Magic Valley Cowboys were a minor league baseball team in the Pioneer League for a total of 17 seasons between 1952 and 1971. The team was based in Twin Falls, Idaho — the largest city within the Magic Valley region — and succeeded the ...

in 1965. Davey played 60 games in his minor league baseball career, batting .172 with 23 RBI. Davey retired from baseball due to an injury.

Coaching career

Early coaching career (1967–1977)

From 1967 to 1972, Davey was head basketball coach at Leland High School in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. Davey went 61–53 in five seasons at Leland, with a third-place finish in the 1971

Central Coast Section The Central Coast Section (CCS) is the governing body of public and private high school athletics in the portion of California encompassing San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Monterey County, San Benito County, Santa Cruz County and a few priv ...

playoffs in his final season there. Reuniting with his former Pacific coach Dick Edwards, from 1972 to 1977, Davey was an assistant coach at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

under Edwards.

Santa Clara assistant coach (1977–1992)

Davey moved to

in 1977 and served as assistant to longtime Broncos head coach

Carroll Williams Carroll Milton Williams (December 2, 1916 in Oregon Hill, Virginia October 11, 1991 in Watertown, Massachusetts) was an American zoologist known for his work in entomology and developmental biology—in particular, metamorphosis in insects, ...

. Davey would serve as Williams's top assistant for 15 years, during which Santa Clara had 10 winning seasons including six 20-win seasons. Santa Clara's most successful stretch in that era was in the 1980s with winning records in all but the 1985–86 season. The 1980s for Santa Clara also had four NIT appearances in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, 1988, and

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

and an appearance in the 1987 NCAA tournament.

Santa Clara head coach (1992–2007)

On September 9, 1992, Davey was promoted to head coach after Williams became athletic director at Santa Clara. In his first season, Davey's Broncos finished third but won the WCC tournament and became only the second no. 15 seed team to win in the first round, defeating no. 2

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

64–61 on March 18, 1993. Led by future NBA MVP

Steve Nash Stephen John Nash (born 7 February 1974) is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 18 seasons in the NBA, ...

, Santa Clara would go on to win the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

regular season title in 1995 and 1996 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament both years. Santa Clara signed Davey to a contract extension on March 29, 1995. The 10-seed Broncos beat

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

in the first round in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

. After Nash moved on to the NBA, Santa Clara won a third straight WCC regular season title in 1997, this time led by senior guard Marlon Garnett. Santa Clara would continue to have consistent winning seasons under Davey, with an 18–10 record in 1997–98, 19–12 in 1999–2000, and 20–12 in 2000–01. However, the program went on a downturn afterwards with five straight losing seasons. On January 7, 2003, CollegeInsider.com named Davey the Mid-Season Coach of the Year for achieving a 9–4 start to the season with an injury-depleted roster where multiple walk-ons took over starting roles. Santa Clara would finish the 2002–03 season 13–15 (4–10 WCC) but improved to 16–16 (8–8 WCC) in 2003–04. The 2004–05 Broncos started 3–1 following an upset of no. 4 and eventual national champion

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

on November 19 in the Pete Newell Challenge at The Arena in Oakland. However, Santa Clara finished the season 15–16 (7–7 WCC). Davey retired as Santa Clara coach on February 1, 2007. The ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...

'' reported, citing anonymous sources, that top university administrators and major donors wanted a new head coach and a larger basketball budget. In Santa Clara's next game on February 3 at Saint Mary's, Davey got a standing ovation from Saint Mary's fans and a gift argyle sweater from Saint Mary's head coach

Randy Bennett Randall William Bennett (born June 9, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at Saint Mary's College of California. He led the team to several second-place finishes and seven NCAA tournament ap ...

, and Santa Clara won 63–57, resulting in sole possession of second place in WCC standings. Santa Clara finished Davey's final season 21–10 (10–4 WCC) for the first winning season in six years.

Ken Pomeroy Ken Pomeroy is the creator of the college basketball website and statistical archive KenPom. His website includes his College Basketball Ratings, statistics for every NCAA men's Division I basketball team, with archives dating back to the 2002 s ...

also ranked Santa Clara's defense as the best in the WCC that season. In late 2007, the authorized biography ''Dick Davey: A Basketball Life Richly Led'' was self-published by Chuck Hildebrand, sportswriter and friend of Davey.

Stanford associate head coach (2008–2012)

On June 16, 2008, Davey came out of retirement to become associate head coach at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

under new head coach

. Davey joked that during his interview with Dawkins, "I gave him a list of reasons why he shouldn’t hire me, including my age and the fact that I couldn’t turn a computer on." Stanford finished the 2008–09 season with a 20–14 (6–12

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

) record, with wins over ranked Arizona State and California teams and a third round

2009 College Basketball Invitational The 2009 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) was a single-elimination tournament of 16 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament or the 2009 ...

appearance. After two straight losing seasons, Stanford improved to 26–11 (10–8

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

) with the 2012 NIT championship in 2011–12. Davey retired from Stanford after the NIT.

Personal life

Davey is married to Jeanne Davey. They have two children, including Mike Davey, a longtime basketball head coach at Saratoga High School.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Santa Clara profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davey, Dick 1942 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Baseball catchers Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Stanislaus County, California Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from Stanislaus County, California California Golden Bears men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Decatur Commodores players High school basketball coaches in California Magic Valley Cowboys players Pacific Tigers baseball players Pacific Tigers men's basketball players People from Ceres, California Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball coaches Stanford Cardinal men's basketball coaches