Men's Basketball

During his colorful life in the early 1900's, popular American icon Will Rogers stated one of his most recognizable quotes -- "I never met a man I didn't like."

If he were alive today, clearly he would say the same to describe Santa Clara University men's basketball coach Dick Davey.

Davey played a major role in the lives of nearly everyone connected to Santa Clara University. He personified the school's "family" environment and has earned the respect of current and former players and his peers. Santa Clara head coach Dick Davey saved one his best seasons for his final season as head coach at Santa Clara University. In his 15th and final season at SCU, Davey led the Broncos to a 21-10 overall record and a 10-4 mark in the West Coast Conference. It was the fourth 20-win season under Davey and the fifth time that the Broncos won at least 10 conference games during his tenure. SCU defeated Stanford and ended Gonzaga's 50-game home winning streak during the memorable season. The team also swept Saint Mary's, San Francisco, San Diego and Portland on their way to a second place finish in the WCC. Davey finished his illustrious career with a 251-190 overall record and a 122-88 mark in the WCC. He is now second all-time in WCC wins behind only Carroll Williams' 165. At home, the Broncos posted a 141-62 record and a .695 winning percentage with Davey at the helm. He won three WCC regular season titles, one WCC Tournament championship and made three NCAA Tournament appearances in his 15 seasons. He also led SCU to five wins over top-25 opponents.

Along the way, the likeable Davey became a favorite of media and close followers of the Bronco program with his honest, straight-forward approach. He answers his own phone and it was not uncommon for him to greet reporters with a hand shake prior to his post-game press conference.

Davey's association with Santa Clara University spans 30 years. After spending 15 years as an assistant coach under Bronco legend Carroll Williams, Davey took over the head coaching duties in the fall of 1992 when Williams was named the school's director of athletics. He originally joined the Santa Clara coaching staff in 1977 after spending five seasons at the University of California, where he worked as an assistant under head coach Dick Edwards. From 1977 until the end of the 1991-92 season, Davey served as Williams' right-hand man, often commenting he "had the greatest job in America." He worked at a school that was special to him and for someone who was not only his mentor and boss, but his best friend, as well.

In the back of his mind, though, Davey knew that someday his time would come to serve as a head coach. "Someday" came on September 9, 1992.

One would be hard-pressed to find a more intense coach in the collegiate game today. Year-in and year-out, his teams routinely match Davey's intensity level and combined with an unwavering commitment to the fundamentals and hard-nosed defensive play, Santa Clara has more than held its own against some of the top programs in the nation.

His Bronco teams have claimed five wins over Top 25 teams, beginning with Santa Clara's 64-61 victory over fifth-ranked Arizona in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament. The Broncos added to their reputation of giant killers the following season, when Santa Clara upset a 13th-ranked California team which featured two future NBA lottery selections in Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray. Santa Clara tipped-off its memorable 1995-96 season with a convincing 78-69 win over fourth-ranked and defending National champion UCLA in the first round of the Maui Invitational. The Broncos added 19th-ranked Alabama to its list of upset victims in the 1996-97 season. Last season, the Broncos shocked eventual National Champion and number four-ranked North Carolina 77-66 in the Pete Newell Challenge in Oakland.

As Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Examiner once wrote describing Davey's team, "Basically, it comes down to this: The Broncos are harder to kill than roaches."

Davey began his coaching career at Leland High School in San Jose in 1968. In five seasons, his teams compiled a 61-53 record and garnered a third place finish in the 1971 Central Coast Section play-offs. It was also in 1971 that Davey accepted his first college coaching assignment as an assistant coach at the University of California.

The Ceres, Calif. native prepped at Ceres Union High School where he was an outstanding three-sport athlete as a football quarterback, basketball guard and baseball catcher. He enrolled at the University of the Pacific in 1960 and earned three varsity letters in both basketball and baseball over the next four years. He started 78 straight games for the Tigers from 1961-64. An outstanding baseball player as well, Davey earned All-West Coast Conference honors as a catcher in both his junior and senior seasons. His talents caught the eye of the professional scouts. After receiving his degree in education from Pacific in 1964, Davey signed a professional contract with the San Francisco Giants and played two seasons in their farm system before a injury cut short his promising career.

An avid fisherman and golfer, Davey and his wife Jeanne reside in nearby Saratoga. They have two children, Mike, a 1990 Santa Clara graduate who teaches and coaches basketball at Saratoga High School and Kimberly, a former member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company in Seattle, Wash. who is currently attending SCU; and two grandchildren.

Santa Clara Basketball Under Dick Davey

Superlatives

• Three NCAA Tournament Appearances
• Three WCC Regular Season Championships
• One WCC Tournament Championship
• Five Wins Over Top 25 Teams
• Four 20-Win Seasons
• Nationally Ranked in 1995-96
• Three WCC Player of the Year Selections
• One WCC Freshman of the Year Selection
• Two NBA Players
  

Notable Upsets During Davey Era
Santa Clara 73, Pepperdine 63 o March 8, 1993
WCC Tournamment Championship Game o San Francisco, Calif.
The 1992-93 Broncos, with just one returning starter from the year before and a roster which included seven freshman, were picked no higher than seventh in any of the WCC preseason polls. The team's record stood at 9-10 on February 4th, but Santa Clara caught fire and won eight of its next nine games to advance to the finals of the WCC Tournament against Pepperdine, which had wrapped up its third straight regular season title a week before. In a harbinger of greater things which were ahead, Santa Clara, behind the blistering three-point shooting of freshman Steve Nash, shocked the Waves to earn its first NCAA Tournament berth in seven years. The Waves jumped out to a 23-10 lead in the first half, only to see Santa Clara cut the lead down to three at intermission, 35-32. In the second half, the Broncos shot .667 from the field and converted all nine of their three-point attempts to capture its second-ever WCC Tournament title. Nash, who became the first freshman to earn WCC Tournament MVP honors, finished with 23 points, while Pete Eisenrich and Mark Schmitz added 19 each. "Everyone knew that Steve Nash, point guard, militantly self-effacing freshman and the non-hockey-playing pride of Victoria, British Columbia, had put the Broncos in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years," wrote Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Examiner. "Defiant three-point jump shots, Arsenio-punching at the audience to keep them engaged in the spectacle below, that give-me-the ball-if-you-know-what's-good-for-all-of-us look in his eye...it was, in a field of hundreds of images, the most noticeable part of the Broncos 73-63 win over the presumptive favorite Waves."

Santa Clara 64, Arizona 61 o March 18, 1993
NCAA Tournament o West Regional o Salt Lake City, Utah
The Broncos, seeded 15th and making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1987-88, stunned fifth-ranked and second-seeded Arizona, marking just the second time in tournament history that a 15-seed had defeated a two-seed. Santa Clara, behind junior Pete Eisenrich's 19 points, rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to defeat the Pacific-10 Conference champions. "Undersized, underrated and under no pressure whatsoever," wrote John Crumpacker of the San Francisco Examiner, "the Broncos stunned Arizona, 64-61, Thursday night in a first round game of the West Regional that stretched the limits of credulity."

Santa Clara 80, California 67 o December 4, 1993
Oakland Coliseum Arena o Oakland, Calif.
The Broncos upset a 13th-ranked Golden Bear squad which featured two future NBA lottery picks in Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray before 14,100 fans at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. The Broncos pumped in 13-of-23 three-pointers to tie a school record. Senior Pete Eisenrich and sophomore Steve Nash scored 17 points each to lead SCU. The win avenged a seven-point loss to the Bears just three weeks earlier in the Preseason NIT. "This was, in short, an object lesson in Santa Clara basketball at its best," wrote Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Examiner. "It is arrhythmic, it is insecure, it is one possession away from disaster at all times. And it is indomitable. Basically, it comes down to this: The Broncos are harder to kill than roaches."

Santa Clara 78, UCLA 69 o November 20, 1995
Maui Invitational, Lahaina, Maui, Hawai'i
In a classic David vs. Goliath match-up before a national television audience on ESPN, Santa Clara opened the season with a nine-point victory over defending National Champion UCLA at the Maui Invitational. The win over the 4th-ranked Bruins marked the highest ranked team Santa Clara had defeated since it beat No. 2 Providence on December 16, 1972. The Broncos scored 11 straight points to break a 47-47 tie in the second half. Junior Marlon Garnett took team-high scoring honors with 21 points, while Steve Nash added 19. "While half of the nation's college basketball fans were sleeping," wrote John Akers of the San Jose Mercury News, "Santa Clara pulled off a shocker Monday that eventually will have the country rubbing its eyes. Santa Clara 78, defending national champion UCLA, 69." Santa Clara fell to third-ranked Villanova, 77-65 the next night, however, the Broncos trailed by just five points with 3:40 remaining.

Santa Clara 71, Georgia Tech 66 o December 30, 1995
Cable Car Classic o San Jose, Calif.
In a clash of heralded guards Steve Nash and Stephon Marbury, the Broncos defeat the eventual ACC champion Yellow Jackets in the consolation game of the Cable Car Classic at San Jose Arena. Santa Clara shot 52 percent in the second half and tied a school-record with 13 three-pointers. Marlon Garnett scored 21 points while senior Adam Anderson came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points. "It wasn't exactly a meeting of the gods, this first meeting between the point guard and the guard who gets the points," wrote Art Spander of the San Francisco Examiner, "but it was a bit of basketball that may produce distant memories."

Santa Clara 91, Maryland 79 o March 15, 1996
NCAA Tournament o West Regional o Tempe, Ariz.
Steve Nash, playing in the second to last game at Santa Clara, scored a season-high 28 points and dished out 12 assists as the 10th-seeded Broncos upset 7th-seeded Maryland in the first round of the NCAA West Regional in Tempe, Ariz.. The Broncos broke open a 43-43 game with a 22-6 run in the second half. Nash's dribbling and passing skills helped Santa Clara break Maryland's tenacious full-court press. "He broke through Maryland's trapping defense," wrote Joan Ryan of the San Francisco Chronicle. "Maryland knew if the Terps shut down Nash, they would shut down Santa Clara. But they couldn't do it. Nash lobbed balls down court, over the heads of the Maryland players. He spun away from defenders, controlling the ball as only a gym rat can."

Santa Clara 79, Marquette 72 o November 29, 1996
Toso Pavilion o Santa Clara, Calif.
The Broncos, winless after losses to No. 2 Kansas and No. 13 Fresno State, opened their home season against a Golden Eagle team which was one week removed from a Top 25 ranking. Santa Clara trailed by 19 points, 58-39, with 12:58 remaining, but outscored Marquette 37-8 to take a 76-66 lead with :30 seconds left before winning the game by seven points. Freshman Brian Jones set a SCU freshman scoring record with 34 points. He scored 21 of his 34 points in the last 12:58 of the game to key the biggest come-from-behind win in school history. "Two more diverse personalities haven't been seen since Sybil became a psychological case study," wrote Candace Putnam of the San Jose Mercury-News. "But there they were on display for all to see on the Toso Pavilion floor Friday night: First-Half Santa Clara and Second-Half Santa Clara. Fortunately for the Broncos, Second-Half Santa Clara turned out to be the dominant personality, scratching and clawing its way back from a 19-point deficit whose groundwork was laid in the first half, and on to a dazzling 79-72 victory over the Marquette Golden Eagles."

Santa Clara 77, Alabama 62 o December 29, 1996
Cable Car Classic o San Jose, Calif.
After suffering a loss to Detroit Mercy the night before, Santa Clara faced the prospect of going 0-2 in its own tournament as the Broncos took the floor against the 19th-ranked Crimson Tide. With the game tied at 43 with 14:46 to go, Santa Clara seized control of the game by going on a 15-6 run. Junior guard Craig Johnson came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. Senior Drew Zurek added 14 as the Broncos knocked off a ranked team for the fourth time in five years. "The Broncos were the harder-working team most of the night and got what they deserved," wrote Frank Blackman of the San Francisco Examiner.

Santa Clara 58, Pepperdine 54 o February 28, 1999
WCC Tournament Semifinals o Santa Clara, Calif.
Santa Clara's four-point victory over Pepperdine in the semifinals of the WCC Basketball Championships, though not as dramatic or headline grabbing as Santa Clara's previous upsets, was perhaps its most satisfying. Due to injuries to various key players throughout the year, including star point guard Brian Jones, the 1998-99 Broncos were a season-long work in progress. Santa Clara brought a 13-14 record into its semifinal game against the second-seeded Pepperdine Waves, which stood 19-13 after its first round victory over USF. The Broncos masterfully controlled the pace and nailed 10-of-13 of their three-point attempts to eliminate the Waves, 58-54. Nathan Fast scored a game-high 19 points while Delano D'Oyen canned 5-of-7 three-pointers for 15 points to key the upset. "Coach Dick Davey's Santa Clara basketball team has lost players to assorted injuries and maladies this season," wrote Sheldon Spencer of the San Jose Mercury News. "The Broncos victory, their seventh in the past nine games, is a testament to Davey's ability to patch together a lineup."

Santa Clara 77, North Carolina 66 o November 19, 2004
Pete Newell Challenge o Oakland, Calif.
The fourth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, a week after earning Sports Illustrated's preseason number one ranking, made a quick stop in Oakland en route to the Maui Invitational with a plan to dispatch Santa Clara in the Pete Newell Challenge before heading to Hawai'i. What happened, though, resulted in a Tar Heel season-opening loss for only the fifth time since 1930 after a passionate and determined Bronco squad rolled to a 77-66 victory. Much of the media's focus was on UNC's freshman point guard Quentin Thomas playing in the place of all-everything Raymond Felton. But, the Broncos were starting a freshman of their own in Brody Angley (eight points, seven rebounds and five assists) and Felton's loss probably wouldn't have matter anyway as SCU took their first lead of the game late in the first half and stretched their advantage to as many as 19 points. Travis Niesen scored 26 points and his play prompted North Carolina Coach Roy Williams to describe him as ".. a tough, competitive rascal. He's the kind of kid you don't like to play against, but he's the kind of kid you would love to have on your team.'' ''It's still five on five,'' Niesen said. ''They are just wearing blue uniforms that say North Carolina.''

Santa Clara 62, Stanford 46 o December 16, 2006
Maples Pavilion o Stanford, Calif.
In Davey's final season, the Broncos had gotten off to a 7-3 start, but had not beaten one of the heavyweights on their non-conference schedule. That changed against the Cardinal as SCU burst out to a 28-12 halftime lead, holding Stanford to just 4-for-27 shooting in the half. Danny Pariseau led a balanced attack with eight points at the break. In the second half, the Broncos got up by as many as 22 points on the Cardinal's home floor before coasting to an impressive 62-46 win over a Stanford team that would later upset No. 1 UCLA in Pac-10 play. As they would all season, the Broncos got contributions from up and down the roster. Pariseau led the way with 16 points and a career high nine rebounds, while Sean Denison and Brody Angley each scored 10 points. For the game, the Broncos held the Cardinal to .275 shooting for the game."You have to credit our coaches a lot tonight," said Pariseau after the game. "They gave us a good scouting report. Coach (Steve) Seandel coached here before so we had a good idea of what they wanted to do and we were able to stop them from doing it. We got down on their big guys well and prevented them from scoring early on."

Santa Clara 84, Gonzaga 73 o Feb. 12, 2007
McCarthey Athletic Center o Spokane, Wash.
With first place on the line in the WCC, Santa Clara traveled to Spokane to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Heading into the game, Gonzaga had defeated the Broncos 13 straight times and also held a 50-game home winning streak as well as a 56-game winning streak in Spokane. Davey's squad shocked the boisterous crowd at the "Kennel" by jumping out to a 13-0 lead right out of the gate. Scott Dougeherty scored eight of the first 13 points for SCU. After the Zags closed the gap to 17-11, senior Joey Kaempf struck for three straight 3-pointers to stretch the lead to 15 at 26-11. SCU led 42-29 at the half. The Broncos eventually got the lead up to 19 points at 60-41 with 11:36 to before Gonzaga started its run. The Bulldogs twice got within six points, but the clutch shooting of Dougherty, Danny Pariseau and Brody Angley kept SCU ahead. The final dagger came with just over two minutes to play when Dougherty nailed a 3-pointer to put SCU up by 10. Dougherty finished the game a perfect 7-for-7 from the field for a career high 23 points. Angley had a season high 18 points and Pariseau scored 14 and dished out six assists. The Broncos shot an incredible 11-18 from beyond the arc (61 percent) and hit 53 percent of their shots and 86 percent from the line. "Some nights you get it going and tonight was one of those nights," said Dougherty of the Broncos hot shooting. "It is really nice when you can get it going for a big game like tonight. Everyone stepped up and made their shots."