Davis Was Never Right

I'm recovering from hand surgery so I can't comment as fully as I'd like to on Mike Davis resigning as Indiana's head coach.

But I will say that Jason Whitlock on ESPN.com Page 2 got it right:

Davis isn't the first coach -- black or white -- to face a hanging tree. And you know what? He's probably not the first to tie his own noose, pick out the tree and kick the chair out from underneath his feet. It just feels like the first time to me, because I've seen it coming from the get-go.

While Davis believes Indiana needs one of its own to lead the Hoosiers, I contend that all Indiana fans want is a coach who passionately wants to be a Hoosier. Period.

That's so true. A recent column by Regie Hayes of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel summed it up for me:

No one denies Davis can recruit. But he hasn’t proved he can build a team that blends stars, co-stars and role players. Last season, too much depended on the rise and fall of Bracey Wright. This season, it’s Marco Killingsworth. Too often, the Hoosiers seem to have a Plan A and, if that doesn’t work, they try Plan A.

Davis’ best team – the 2002 NCAA runner-up team – had no single superstar, but a collection of pieces that meshed in Jared Jeffries, Tom Coverdale, Dane Fife, A.J. Moye, Jeff Newton and Kyle Hornsby.

Since that miraculous tournament run in 2002, after all of Knight's kids left the program and all that remained were Davis's recruits, his inability to coach began to show.

And then the real whining began. But we've been over that before and don't need to write anymore about it. He's gone.

I'll let Mr. Whitlock end this post:

Bobby Knight turned Indiana into a powerhouse by stocking his roster with the best talent Indiana, Illinois and Ohio had to offer. Davis tried to win big this year with three mercenaries from the state of Alabama -- D.J. White and Auburn transfers Marco Killingsworth and Lewis Monroe. Killingsworth and Monroe enrolled at Indiana with just one year of eligibility left. White, a sophomore, committed to Indiana with the intentions of turning pro as soon as possible.

Monroe has been a disappointment. White injured his foot. And Killingsworth, who lacks the kind of Indiana-bred basketball savvy of players such as Jeffries, kills Indiana's offense because he doesn't know how to pass out of a double-team.

Are there some IU fans who don't like Davis simply because of the color of his skin? Yes. But that element in no way cost Davis his job. Mike Davis cost himself one of the best jobs in America by wallowing in pity.

Pity provides comfort, but it sure don't pay the bills.