Santa Clara University

During his colorful life in the early 1900's, popular Americanicon Will Rogers stated one of his most recognizable quotes -- "Inever met a man I didn't like."

If he were alive today, clearly he would say the same todescribe Santa Clara University men's basketball coach DickDavey.

Davey played a major role in the lives of nearly everyoneconnected to Santa Clara University. He personified the school's"family" environment and has earned the respect of current andformer players and his peers. Santa Clara head coach Dick Daveysaved one his best seasons for his final season as head coach atSanta Clara University. In his 15th and final season at SCU, Daveyled the Broncos to a 21-10 overall record and a 10-4 mark in theWest Coast Conference. It was the fourth 20-win season under Daveyand the fifth time that the Broncos won at least 10 conferencegames during his tenure. SCU defeated Stanford and ended Gonzaga's50-game home winning streak during the memorable season. The teamalso swept Saint Mary's, San Francisco, San Diego and Portland ontheir way to a second place finish in the WCC. Davey finished hisillustrious career with a 251-190 overall record and a 122-88 markin the WCC. He is now second all-time in WCC wins behind onlyCarroll Williams' 165. At home, the Broncos posted a 141-62 recordand a .695 winning percentage with Davey at the helm. He won threeWCC regular season titles, one WCC Tournament championship and madethree NCAA Tournament appearances in his 15 seasons. He also ledSCU to five wins over top-25 opponents.

Along the way, the likeable Davey became a favorite of media andclose followers of the Bronco program with his honest,straight-forward approach. He answers his own phone and it was notuncommon for him to greet reporters with a hand shake prior to hispost-game press conference.

Davey's association with Santa Clara University spans 30 years.After spending 15 years as an assistant coach under Bronco legendCarroll Williams, Davey took over the head coaching duties in thefall of 1992 when Williams was named the school's director ofathletics. He originally joined the Santa Clara coaching staff in1977 after spending five seasons at the University of California,where he worked as an assistant under head coach Dick Edwards. From1977 until the end of the 1991-92 season, Davey served as Williams'right-hand man, often commenting he "had the greatest job inAmerica." He worked at a school that was special to him and forsomeone 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 histime would come to serve as a head coach. "Someday" came onSeptember 9, 1992.

One would be hard-pressed to find a more intense coach in thecollegiate game today. Year-in and year-out, his teams routinelymatch Davey's intensity level and combined with an unwaveringcommitment to the fundamentals and hard-nosed defensive play, SantaClara has more than held its own against some of the top programsin the nation.

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

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

Davey began his coaching career at Leland High School in SanJose in 1968. In five seasons, his teams compiled a 61-53 recordand garnered a third place finish in the 1971 Central Coast Sectionplay-offs. It was also in 1971 that Davey accepted his firstcollege coaching assignment as an assistant coach at the Universityof California.

The Ceres, Calif. native prepped at Ceres Union High Schoolwhere he was an outstanding three-sport athlete as a footballquarterback, basketball guard and baseball catcher. He enrolled atthe University of the Pacific in 1960 and earned three varsityletters in both basketball and baseball over the next four years.He started 78 straight games for the Tigers from 1961-64. Anoutstanding baseball player as well, Davey earned All-West CoastConference honors as a catcher in both his junior and seniorseasons. His talents caught the eye of the professional scouts.After receiving his degree in education from Pacific in 1964, Daveysigned a professional contract with the San Francisco Giants andplayed two seasons in their farm system before a injury cut shorthis promising career.

An avid fisherman and golfer, Davey and his wife Jeanne residein nearby Saratoga. They have two children, Mike, a 1990 SantaClara graduate who teaches and coaches basketball at Saratoga HighSchool and Kimberly, a former member of the Pacific NorthwestBallet 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 yearbefore and a roster which included seven freshman, were picked nohigher than seventh in any of the WCC preseason polls. The team'srecord stood at 9-10 on February 4th, but Santa Clara caught fireand won eight of its next nine games to advance to the finals ofthe WCC Tournament against Pepperdine, which had wrapped up itsthird straight regular season title a week before. In a harbingerof greater things which were ahead, Santa Clara, behind theblistering three-point shooting of freshman Steve Nash, shocked theWaves to earn its first NCAA Tournament berth in seven years. TheWaves jumped out to a 23-10 lead in the first half, only to seeSanta Clara cut the lead down to three at intermission, 35-32. Inthe second half, the Broncos shot .667 from the field and convertedall nine of their three-point attempts to capture its second-everWCC Tournament title. Nash, who became the first freshman to earnWCC Tournament MVP honors, finished with 23 points, while PeteEisenrich and Mark Schmitz added 19 each. "Everyone knew that SteveNash, point guard, militantly self-effacing freshman and thenon-hockey-playing pride of Victoria, British Columbia, had put theBroncos in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years,"wrote Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Examiner. "Defiant three-pointjump shots, Arsenio-punching at the audience to keep them engagedin the spectacle below, that give-me-theball-if-you-know-what's-good-for-all-of-us look in his eye...itwas, in a field of hundreds of images, the most noticeable part ofthe 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 Tournamentappearance since 1987-88, stunned fifth-ranked and second-seededArizona, marking just the second time in tournament history that a15-seed had defeated a two-seed. Santa Clara, behind junior PeteEisenrich's 19 points, rallied from a 13-point second half deficitto defeat the Pacific-10 Conference champions. "Undersized,underrated and under no pressure whatsoever," wrote John Crumpackerof the San Francisco Examiner, "the Broncos stunned Arizona, 64-61,Thursday night in a first round game of the West Regional thatstretched 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 featuredtwo future NBA lottery picks in Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray before14,100 fans at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. The Broncos pumped in13-of-23 three-pointers to tie a school record. Senior PeteEisenrich and sophomore Steve Nash scored 17 points each to leadSCU. The win avenged a seven-point loss to the Bears just threeweeks earlier in the Preseason NIT. "This was, in short, an objectlesson in Santa Clara basketball at its best," wrote Ray Ratto ofthe San Francisco Examiner. "It is arrhythmic, it is insecure, itis one possession away from disaster at all times. And it isindomitable. Basically, it comes down to this: The Broncos areharder 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 nationaltelevision audience on ESPN, Santa Clara opened the season with anine-point victory over defending National Champion UCLA at theMaui Invitational. The win over the 4th-ranked Bruins marked thehighest ranked team Santa Clara had defeated since it beat No. 2Providence on December 16, 1972. The Broncos scored 11 straightpoints to break a 47-47 tie in the second half. Junior MarlonGarnett took team-high scoring honors with 21 points, while SteveNash added 19. "While half of the nation's college basketball fanswere sleeping," wrote John Akers of the San Jose Mercury News,"Santa Clara pulled off a shocker Monday that eventually will havethe country rubbing its eyes. Santa Clara 78, defending nationalchampion UCLA, 69." Santa Clara fell to third-ranked Villanova,77-65 the next night, however, the Broncos trailed by just fivepoints 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, theBroncos defeat the eventual ACC champion Yellow Jackets in theconsolation game of the Cable Car Classic at San Jose Arena. SantaClara shot 52 percent in the second half and tied a school-recordwith 13 three-pointers. Marlon Garnett scored 21 points whilesenior Adam Anderson came off the bench to score a career-high 16points. "It wasn't exactly a meeting of the gods, this firstmeeting between the point guard and the guard who gets the points,"wrote Art Spander of the San Francisco Examiner, "but it was a bitof 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 the10th-seeded Broncos upset 7th-seeded Maryland in the first round ofthe NCAA West Regional in Tempe, Ariz.. The Broncos broke open a43-43 game with a 22-6 run in the second half. Nash's dribbling andpassing skills helped Santa Clara break Maryland's tenaciousfull-court press. "He broke through Maryland's trapping defense,"wrote Joan Ryan of the San Francisco Chronicle. "Maryland knew ifthe Terps shut down Nash, they would shut down Santa Clara. Butthey couldn't do it. Nash lobbed balls down court, over the headsof the Maryland players. He spun away from defenders, controllingthe 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. 13Fresno State, opened their home season against a Golden Eagle teamwhich was one week removed from a Top 25 ranking. Santa Claratrailed by 19 points, 58-39, with 12:58 remaining, but outscoredMarquette 37-8 to take a 76-66 lead with :30 seconds left beforewinning the game by seven points. Freshman Brian Jones set a SCUfreshman scoring record with 34 points. He scored 21 of his 34points in the last 12:58 of the game to key the biggestcome-from-behind win in school history. "Two more diversepersonalities haven't been seen since Sybil became a psychologicalcase study," wrote Candace Putnam of the San Jose Mercury-News."But there they were on display for all to see on the Toso Pavilionfloor Friday night: First-Half Santa Clara and Second-Half SantaClara. Fortunately for the Broncos, Second-Half Santa Clara turnedout to be the dominant personality, scratching and clawing its wayback from a 19-point deficit whose groundwork was laid in the firsthalf, and on to a dazzling 79-72 victory over the Marquette GoldenEagles."

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, SantaClara faced the prospect of going 0-2 in its own tournament as theBroncos took the floor against the 19th-ranked Crimson Tide. Withthe game tied at 43 with 14:46 to go, Santa Clara seized control ofthe game by going on a 15-6 run. Junior guard Craig Johnson cameoff the bench to score a career-high 16 points on 5-of-7 shootingfrom the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. SeniorDrew Zurek added 14 as the Broncos knocked off a ranked team forthe fourth time in five years. "The Broncos were the harder-workingteam most of the night and got what they deserved," wrote FrankBlackman 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 semifinalsof the WCC Basketball Championships, though not as dramatic orheadline grabbing as Santa Clara's previous upsets, was perhaps itsmost satisfying. Due to injuries to various key players throughoutthe year, including star point guard Brian Jones, the 1998-99Broncos were a season-long work in progress. Santa Clara brought a13-14 record into its semifinal game against the second-seededPepperdine Waves, which stood 19-13 after its first round victoryover USF. The Broncos masterfully controlled the pace and nailed10-of-13 of their three-point attempts to eliminate the Waves,58-54. Nathan Fast scored a game-high 19 points while Delano D'Oyencanned 5-of-7 three-pointers for 15 points to key the upset. "CoachDick Davey's Santa Clara basketball team has lost players toassorted injuries and maladies this season," wrote Sheldon Spencerof the San Jose Mercury News. "The Broncos victory, their seventhin the past nine games, is a testament to Davey's ability to patchtogether 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 earningSports Illustrated's preseason number one ranking, made a quickstop in Oakland en route to the Maui Invitational with a plan todispatch Santa Clara in the Pete Newell Challenge before heading toHawai'i. What happened, though, resulted in a Tar Heelseason-opening loss for only the fifth time since 1930 after apassionate and determined Bronco squad rolled to a 77-66 victory.Much of the media's focus was on UNC's freshman point guard QuentinThomas 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 lossprobably wouldn't have matter anyway as SCU took their first leadof the game late in the first half and stretched their advantage toas many as 19 points. Travis Niesen scored 26 points and his playprompted North Carolina Coach Roy Williams to describe him as ".. atough, competitive rascal. He's the kind of kid you don't like toplay against, but he's the kind of kid you would love to have onyour team.'' ''It's still five on five,'' Niesen said. ''They arejust 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 7-3start, but had not beaten one of the heavyweights on theirnon-conference schedule. That changed against the Cardinal as SCUburst out to a 28-12 halftime lead, holding Stanford to just4-for-27 shooting in the half. Danny Pariseau led a balanced attackwith eight points at the break. In the second half, the Broncos gotup by as many as 22 points on the Cardinal's home floor beforecoasting to an impressive 62-46 win over a Stanford team that wouldlater upset No. 1 UCLA in Pac-10 play. As they would all season,the Broncos got contributions from up and down the roster. Pariseauled the way with 16 points and a career high nine rebounds, whileSean Denison and Brody Angley each scored 10 points. For the game,the Broncos held the Cardinal to .275 shooting for the game."Youhave to credit our coaches a lot tonight," said Pariseau after thegame. "They gave us a good scouting report. Coach (Steve) Seandelcoached here before so we had a good idea of what they wanted to doand we were able to stop them from doing it. We got down on theirbig 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 toSpokane to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Heading into the game,Gonzaga had defeated the Broncos 13 straight times and also held a50-game home winning streak as well as a 56-game winning streak inSpokane. Davey's squad shocked the boisterous crowd at the "Kennel"by jumping out to a 13-0 lead right out of the gate. ScottDougeherty scored eight of the first 13 points for SCU. After theZags closed the gap to 17-11, senior Joey Kaempf struck for threestraight 3-pointers to stretch the lead to 15 at 26-11. SCU led42-29 at the half. The Broncos eventually got the lead up to 19points at 60-41 with 11:36 to before Gonzaga started its run. TheBulldogs twice got within six points, but the clutch shooting ofDougherty, Danny Pariseau and Brody Angley kept SCU ahead. Thefinal dagger came with just over two minutes to play when Doughertynailed a 3-pointer to put SCU up by 10. Dougherty finished the gamea perfect 7-for-7 from the field for a career high 23 points.Angley had a season high 18 points and Pariseau scored 14 anddished out six assists. The Broncos shot an incredible 11-18 frombeyond the arc (61 percent) and hit 53 percent of their shots and86 percent from the line. "Some nights you get it going and tonightwas one of those nights," said Dougherty of the Broncos hotshooting. "It is really nice when you can get it going for a biggame like tonight. Everyone stepped up and made their shots."