Lady Cougar Basketball Head Coach
Mike Davis
In 12 seasons, Lady Cougars head coach Mike Davis has brought the Columbia College women's basketball program to a level that competes at the national level each and every year.
This was no easy task considering Columbia College had just reinstated women's basketball as an intercollegiate sport in 2000 when Davis first arrived. In his 12 seasons, Davis has amassed a record of 290 wins and just 119 losses (.709). He has guided the team to NAIA Division I National Tournament appearances in 10 out of his 12 seasons, moving into the second round in 2003-04, 2004-05 and most recently 2008-09. Davis has also guided the Lady Cougars to nine American Midwest Conference (AMC) championships. In addition, Davis has been named the AMC Coach of the Year six times since taking over the program.
Davis likes to use an up-tempo style of play and builds his team around versatile players. He argues that there is no substitute for a winner and expects nothing less from his teams than a burning desire to win.
Davis, who is a native of New Franklin, Mo., spent his first year at Columbia College penning some of the top student-athletes from around the country and the world preparing for the inaugural season. He has coached six NAIA Scholar-Athletes and eight NAIA All-Americans in his time at Columbia.
Last season, Davis guided the team to its fifth consecutive appearance in the NAIA National Championships. The Lady Cougars finished the season 27-7 overall and 17-1 in AMC play, capped off by a conference tournament championship victory over William Woods (Mo.) University.
In 2008-09 and 2009-10, the Lady Cougars finished conference play with identical 14-2 records, good enough for a first place tie in the league. Columbia earned an at-large bid to the NAIA National Championships in each season.
During the 2004-05 season, Davis led the Lady Cougars to the second round of the NAIA Division I National Tournament, an AMC championship and a final NAIA ranking of No. 11 while finishing the season with an overall record of 31-6.
Davis led the 2001-02 squad to a 30-5 mark in the program's first year, losing in the first round of the NAIA Division I National Tournament. The squad finished the season ranked No. 20 in the final NAIA Top 25 Poll.
In September 2009, Davis was inducted into the Central Methodist University Hariston Hall of Fame. Davis coached women's basketball at Central Methodist for 12 years prior to joining the Columbia College Staff. During his tenure, Davis posted five consecutive 20-win seasons and was named the Heart of America Athletic Conference Coach-of-the-Year three times. He also led the Lady Eagles to four straight NAIA National Tournament appearances, including a Final Four finish in the 1998-99 season. Davis had nine NAIA All-Americans, four NAIA National Players-of-the-Week, six Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes and eight 1,000-point club members during his tenure.
Davis graduated from Central Methodist College in 1983 with a bachelor of science in business administration. He took over the CMC program in 1987 where posted an overall coaching record was 260-157 (.624).
In 24 total seasons in the collegiate coaching world, Davis has accumulated 550 victories to just 276 losses for a win percentage of .666. Following the 2012-13 season, his 550 victories put him third on the NAIA Division I winningest active coaches list.
Mike's wife, Susan, is the Director of Alumni Services at Columbia College. They reside in Boonville, Mo., with their daughter Whitney and their son Wesley.
