The "Wiz" Will Return for Another Year At Alcorn State

ALCORN STATE, Miss. - President Clinton Bristow Jr. and head men's basketball coach Davey Whitney met Wednesday afternoon and the president invited Whitney back for one more year at Alcorn State. The outstanding success of the program this past season has gained Alcorn State national recognition. "I am enthusiastic and pleased about coming back for another year of coaching at Alcorn," Whitney said about returning for the upcoming season.

Whitney has been named the Southwestern Athletic Conference's Coach-of-the-Year as a result of his team's championship drive during this season. This marks the tenth time in his career that he has picked up this award. Whitney guided the Braves to a 21-10 overall record which included a 16-2 mark in league play en route to both the SWAC regular season and tournament titles in which they finished the season in the 2002 NCAA tournament's East Region. He completed his 26th season at Alcorn State in which he has a record of 495 wins and 283 losses along with a career record of 550 wins and 337 losses in 31 seasons as a college head coach.

During Whitney's tenure as head coach, Alcorn State has won twelve SWAC regular season titles and seven SWAC tournament titles. He also led the team to the NCAA tournament seven times and the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) twice. Alcorn State was the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to participate in the NIT in which they recorded a 80-78 victory over in-state rival Mississippi State in 1979. In 1980, Alcorn State became the first HBCU to ever record a victory in the NCAA tournament with a 70-62 victory over South Alabama. In addition, the team currently has a 3-6 overall record in the NCAA tournament.

Alcorn State has posted 14 20-win seasons under Whitney's guidance including streaks of eight and four consecutive seasons. The team has also won 25 or more games six times during this span.

Whitney has reached a pair of milestones during his career by winning his 500th career game with a 91-72 victory over Prairie View A&M on December 20, 1999 and guiding the team to the school's 1000th overall victory with a 88-77 win over Mississippi Valley State on January 12, 2002.

Whitney's coaching ledger includes being a member of the United States Olympic and Coaching and Trial Selection Committee when the United States won the Gold Medal at the 1984 Olympics. He served as the head coach for the South Team in the USA Olympic Committee National Sports Festival in 1985, where his team won the Silver Medal. Whitney served on the Olympic Selection Committee for the 1986 World Games where the United States won their first Gold Medal since 1953.

A 1953 graduate of Kentucky State, Whitney earned more athletic letters than any other athlete in school history, including letters in basketball, baseball, football and track. For his accomplishments, he was inducted into the Kentucky State University Hall of Fame.

After finishing college, Whitney served in the Armed Forces and later played professional baseball with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Baseball League. Whitney started his collegiate career at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas in which he sported a 57-64 record. Prior to joining the collegiate ranks, he compiled a 217-72 record at Burt High School in Clarksville, Tennessee where he won two state championships. Whitney was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and to the Alcorn State Hall of Fame in 1996. He is married to the former Bernice Thomas of Lexington, Kentucky and they are the proud parents of Gail, Danita, Lisa, Doreen and Davey Jr.

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