Jan. 7, 2003
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara University men's basketball coach Dick Davey has been named the national Mid-Season Coach of the Year popular college basketball website CollegeInsider.com.
Davey owns a 182-121 record in his 11th season as the head coach at Santa Clara. He has led the Broncos to a 9-4 non-conference record, his second-best mark since taking the reigns of the program prior to the 1992-93 season, despite a number of injuries and a relatively inexperienced squad.
"These types of accolades are really a reflection of the quality of our players and our coaching staff," said Davey, who owns the third-most league wins of any coach in West Coast Conference history. "This has really been a difficult year due to the number of injuries we've had, certainly. But, I'm really proud of the effort our players have put out during the non-conference portion of our schedule.
"The most important part of the season, though, is coming up and we are going to have to be able to sustain some of the momentum we gained during the preseason if we are going to have a chance to win the league."
Other coaches considered for the award were John Beilein, West Virginia; Jim Christian, Kent State; Stew Morrill, Utah State; Rick Stansbury, Mississippi State; and Willis Wilson, Rice.
The Broncos lost five letterwinners and three starters from last season and Santa Clara was picked fifth in the preseason WCC poll.
Seven players have suffered some sort of significant injury either during preseason drills or during early-season games and Davey started three walk-ons in the first five games of the year. He is currently starting two walk-ons and one, Ethan Rohde, scored 22 points in the Princeton game and was named Tournament MVP.
Currently, the Broncos' projected starting backcourt of Kyle Bailey and Bakari Altheimer has yet to play together and Monday it was announced that Bailey would be sidelined for the remainder of the season. The All-WCC guard had missed the last seven games due to foot and back injuries. Altheimer suffered a fractured foot in the preseason, following the exhibition game, but could return Saturday in the team's WCC opener at San Diego.
Following three-straight road games to open the WCC season, Santa Clara returns home Wednesday, January 22 for its league home opener against the University of San Francisco. For tickets to that game or to purchase a WCC League Pass that provides a ticket to each conference game, call the athletic ticket office at 408/554-4660 or click here.