Iconic former Mississippi State men’s basketball player and coach Kermit Davis Sr. has passed away at age 91.
The Tupelo native died in his hometown on Monday, where he was surrounded by family. Davis spent his collegiate playing days at Mississippi State from 1956-59, and the Bulldogs amassed a whopping 79-16 record while he was there.
His coaching career began quickly after his time in college, with Davis leading the boys’ and girls’ teams at Leakesville High School from 1959-60. Davis then went on to serve as an infantry platoon leader and head basketball coach at Fort Dix Army in New Jersey from 1960-62.
Davis returned to his home state in 1962 and served as head coach at Tupelo High School until 1966, when he was brought in as an assistant at Mississippi State. He took over as head man of the Bulldogs’ men’s program in 1970 and held that post until 1977. He was named SEC Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in 1971 and, notably, signed the first Black players, Jerry Jenkins and Larry Fry, in Mississippi State basketball history the following year.
“The Bulldog Family extends its thoughts and prayers to the family of Kermit Davis Sr., former men’s basketball student-athlete and head coach and a 2006 inductee into the M-Club Sports Hall of Fame,” a statement from Mississippi State Athletics reads. “Davis was a team captain on State’s first SEC regular season championship squad in 1958-59 before serving as head coach for seven seasons.”
Davis passed on his love for the game of basketball to his son, Kermit Jr. The younger Davis became a hot commodity in college coaching spheres when his No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee State team upset Tom Izzo’s No. 2 seed Michigan State 90-81 in the opening round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Kermit Jr. went on to be the head coach at Ole Miss from 2018-23.
