On Wednesday afternoon in Crenshaw Gym, before a gathering of faculty, alumni, students and family members, Randolph-Macon College introduced Nathan Davis as their new men’s head basketball coach. The first time head coach Davis is a 1997 Yellow Jacket alum and returns to R-MC with 11 years of Division I coaching experience.

“Basketball here has always been very important to me,” Davis said. “And being a basketball coach here has always been a dram of mine.

“I’m honored to be given this opportunity to come back home,” Davis said. With his wife Jeanette Johnson-Davis, a 1994 graduate of R-MC, three year old daughter Kieran and 11-month old daughter Hayden, Davis called returning to Randolph-Macon as a dream job. “Randolph-Macon’s always been a truly special place to me and my family.”

Davis succeeds Mike Rhoades, who after 10 years with the Yellow Jackets was named an assistant for newly hired VCU coach Shaka Smart.

Davis comes to R-MC after spending the 2008-09 season as an assistant at Colgate University. Prior to that, Davis was an assistant at Bucknell University under head coach Pat Flannery. In Davis’ five years with the Bison, the team won 99 games, two Patriot League titles and advanced to the NCAA tournament twice, upsetting Kansas in 2005 and Arkansas in 2006.

“We had a lot of success together,” Davis said of Flannery. “He’s been a tremendous influence on me much like he was on Coach Rhoades.”

Davis also spent five years as an assistant to Don DeVoe at the Naval Academy.
As a player under legendary R-MC Coach Hal Nunnally, Davis looks to carry on the winning tradition and paid homage to his former coach who passed away in 2004, with an empty chair at the press table. “He’s always around and I wanted to make sure he had a place to sit, come hang out, because I know he’s with us today,” Davis said. “He’d be very happy with the program and where we’re going.”

Randolph-Macon Director of Athletics Denis Kanach said the hiring of Davis is the most important since he arrived in 2004. “It may be the most important hire of my career,” he added.

Kanach’s the reasons for hiring Davis were many. “He’s typical of the other men I’ve been around in that he comes form a powerfully strong family at home and a powerfully strong family in the profession,” Kanach said. “I’ve always believed that the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree and the forest of colleagues and family that have surrounded Nathan has been very strong and has much to do with his success.”

Davis, who only had a brief meeting with the players who will return to the program next season, said he does not expect his style to differ much from what Randolph-Macon fans are used to. “I would like to play more up tempo,” he said. “But a lot of that is going to be determined by our players. The one thing I will guarantee you is that we’re going to do everything we can do to make sure that our players are put in the best situation to succeed. I don’t want to ask them to do anything they’re not capable of.”

Davis and his coaching staff will examine film to come up with a system that best suits his team. “I’m a man-to-man guy,” he said. “I hate zone, but I don’t hate zone as much as losing. So if that’s what it takes to win, we’re going to do that too.”

Davis looks forward to the potential for the team and his future with R-MC. “I can’t understate how excited I am about this opportunity,” he said. “It’s a truly special place for me and my family and I really look forward to jumping in right away.”