Davey Lee Whitney Sr. (b. January 8, 1930, Midway, Kentucky – d. May 10, 2015, Biloxi, Mississippi), also known as "The Wiz", was an American college basketball coach and the head basketball coach at Texas Southern University from 1964 to 1969 and Alcorn State University from 1969 to 1989 and 1996 to 2003. He amassed a total record of 566 wins and 356 losses in 33 seasons of coaching at both institutions.
Davey Lee Whitney Sr. was born in Midway, Kentucky, and attended Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington while living with friends. At Dunbar, Whitney played at guard on the basketball team and led his school to the 1947 and 1948 tournaments of the Kentucky High School Athletic League, the state's black high school league, and the 1948 league title.
He attended Kentucky State University and graduated in 1952. At Kentucky State, Whitney lettered in basketball, baseball, football, and track. After college, Whitney started out playing Negro American League baseball for the Kansas City Monarchs as shortstop and third baseman from 1952 to 1954.
Whitney began his coaching career in 1954 as varsity basketball head coach at Burt High School in Clarksville, Tennessee. In ten seasons, Whitney led Burt to over 200 victories and the 1961 National Negro High School Basketball Championship. He had his first collegiate job as head coach of Texas Southern University in 1964 but had only one winning season in five years. In 1969, he moved on to Alcorn A&M (which became Alcorn State in 1974). Alcorn A&M had the reputation as a football school in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
Mainly recruiting local talent, Whitney was instrumental in making the Alcorn State men's basketball program a force in the SWAC during the 1970s and 1980s, with nine SWAC regular season titles. He led the Braves to the 1974 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament championship game. Two years after, the Braves followed the SWAC to Division I. Whitney's Braves advanced to the second round of the 1979 National Invitation Tournament following an upset of Mississippi State in the first round.
In 1980, Alcorn State became the first HBCU (Historically Black College or University) to win a game in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, after beating South Alabama in the first round. During his time at Alcorn, Whitney earned the nickname "The Wiz".
In 1989, Alcorn State fired Whitney after three straight losing seasons in which they only won 18 games total. Whitney later became an assistant coach for the Wichita Falls Texans of the Continental Basketball Association and was part of the Texans' 1991 championship team. He later was an assistant for the Mississippi Coast Gamblers of the United States Basketball League. Whitney returned to Alcorn State in 1996, taking over a program that had tallied only one winning season since his departure. Within three years, he had the Braves back in the NCAA Tournament. He retired for good in 2003.
Whitney was known as a stern taskmaster, and his teams were a reflection of his hard-nosed personality. They were known for strong rebounding and tenacious defense. His 1998-99 team, for instance, was eighth in the nation in rebounding and gave up only 66.7 points per game.
Whitney set many records during his career at Alcorn, establishing himself as the second winningest coach in HBCU college basketball history behind Clarence "Big House" Gaines, who coached at Winston-Salem State University. Whitney also owns the only postseason wins (NCAA and NIT) in Alcorn's history.
Whitney returned to Alcorn State two years after the Braves' home arena had been renamed the Davey Whitney Complex in his honor. He is thus one of the few Division I coaches to coach in an arena named after him.
Davey Whitney was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.[
Whitney died at his home in Biloxi, Mississippi, on May 10, 2015.
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DAVEY "THE WIZ" WHITNEY, SR. 1930-2015
A native of Lexington, Kentucky Whitney earned his Bachelor's degree from Kentucky State and played baseball, basketball, football and ran track during his four-year career. For his accomplishments, he was enshrined into the Kentucky State Hall of Fame. After finishing college, Whitney served in the Army and played professional baseball in the Negro Baseball League.
He entered the realm of coaching basketball in 1964 as the head coach of Texas Southern. He held that position from 1964 to 1969 before arriving at Alcorn in 1969.
In his first season as the Braves coach, he compiled a record of 16-9 but helped the Braves reach new heights during the 1972-73. Whitney and the Braves posted a 24-5 record while capturing his first SWAC title.
Whitney's teams went on to win 12 SWAC regular season titles including four straight between 1979 and 1982, six NCAA Tournament appearances and three NIT appearances. During the 1978-79 season, Whitney's Braves recorded the best season in his 32 years of coaching by posting a 28-0 and earning a spot in the National Invitational Tournament. The Braves defeated Mississippi State 80-78 becoming one of the first historically black universities to compete and win in the NIT.
The following season the Braves made history once again by becoming the first historically black university to earn a bid in the NCAA Division I Tournament while finishing the 1978-79 season with a 28-2 record. The Braves defeated South Alabama 70-62 in the first round before falling to LSU 98-88.
During the 1983 and 1984 seasons, Whitney led the Braves to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and captured wins over Xavier (OH) 81-75 and Houston Baptist (79-60).
Whitney left Alcorn in 1989 before returning as the Braves head coach in 1996 to work his old magic back into the life of Alcorn State basketball. After rebuilding the Braves in his first two seasons back, he finally restored the team during the 1998-99 season when he led the Braves to an impressive 23-7 record and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Whitney and the Braves captured his final SWAC title in 2002 after guiding the Braves to a 21-10 record and his last NCAA Tournament appearance.
Whitney won nine SWAC Coach of the Year awards while at Alcorn.
He was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, Alcorn State Hall of Fame, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame
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