Nathan Davis wasn't actively seeking to leave Colgate, and Denis Kanach wasn't actively seeking to hire a coach with ties to the Randolph-Macon men's basketball program.
Each is delighted that the other changed his mind.
Davis, an R-MC alumnus and former player, late Sunday night accepted a multi-year contract to become the Yellow Jackets' basketball coach. In the process, he made history. Never before has Randolph-Macon, a 179-year-old institution, hired an African-American as a coach.
Davis, 34, returns to Ashland after toiling for 11 seasons as a Division I assistant coach, most recently at Colgate (2009) and Bucknell (2004-08). He professed "tremendous respect and affection for the school and the program." Virtually everything he has accomplished as an adult, he said, "including meeting and marrying my wife, you can trace back to my time at Randolph-Macon. I can't wait to get started."
The Yellow Jackets' new coach fills a vacancy created when Mike Rhoades departed after 10 seasons to become an assistant at Virginia Commonwealth University. Davis said he had no intention of leaving Colgate after one season until the R-MC position -- "the opportunity I've always dreamed of" -- became available two weeks ago.
As Rhoades stacked one successful season upon another, Kanach, R-MC's athletic director, understood that his departure was all but inevitable. Davis, Kanach said, "has been at the top of my short list for a long time."
Davis, a native of Bethesda, Md., played for legendary Randolph-Macon coach Hal Nunnally from 1993-96. He scored 983 career points and was twice named to the all-ODAC team. Kanach said Davis' lemon-and-black background "more or less a happy coincidence. My goal is and always will be to find and hire the best coach I can. Period."
Kanach described Davis as "a perfect fit" for Division III Randolph-Macon. He said one of many strong points on Davis' résumé is the athletes with whom he worked at the Division I level. Colgate, Bucknell and Navy (1999-2003) are Patriot League schools. As such, they typically stock their rosters with players overlooked or rejected by members of elite conferences.
"If you're going to coach in Division III, you'd better have a serious passion for teaching," Kanach said. "The kids you're going to be working with are kids who very often haven't reached their peak. They might truly me diamonds in the rough." That being so, he said, "it then becomes a question of: 'What can you teach this kid?"
Davis helped steer Bucknell to 99 victories and a pair of NCAA tournament appearances (following Patriot League championships) in five years. Each of Bucknell's NCAA appearances produces resounding upsets: Kansas in 2005 and Arkansas in 2006.
Davis graduated from R-MC in 1997 with bachelor's degrees in history and sociology. He and his wife, Miki (R-MC '94) have two children, a son, Kieran (3) and a daughter, Hayden (11 months).
Contact Vic Dorr Jr. at (804) 649-6442 or vdorr@timesdispatch.com.
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