Nathan Davis Career Record Entering 2022-23: 258-134 (.658)
Nathan Davis Bucknell Record Entering 2022-23: 117-95 (.552)

Nathan Davis returned to Bucknell in April 2015 to become the 21st head coach of the Bison men’s basketball program, and his impact on the program was immediate. The Bison captured Patriot League regular-season titles in each of his first four seasons as head coach, and in 2017 and 2018 they followed with Patriot League Tournament titles and trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Davis was a familiar face to Bucknell fans when he returned to Lewisburg, as he spent five years (2003-08) as the top assistant coach under Pat Flannery and was on the bench for the team’s historic NCAA Tournament victories in 2005 and 2006. In 2005, 14th-seeded Bucknell upset No. 3 Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, marking the first NCAA win in school and Patriot League history. A year later, the Bison achieved the first top-25 national ranking in program history, went back to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed, and then defeated Arkansas in the first round.

In his very first season as head coach in 2015-16, he guided the team to a 14-4 Patriot League record (17-14 overall). The Bison had to win their final four games of the regular season to hold off Lehigh by one game for the regular-season title. Davis was named Patriot League Coach of the Year and was picked as a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award, presented to the nation’s top first-year coach. His 17 wins were the most ever for a Bucknell coach in his initial season, and he led the team to its third National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance.

In year two, Davis repeated as Patriot League Coach of the Year after leading the Bison to yet another regular-season title, the team's sixth in the last seven years. This time the team added the Patriot League Tournament title as well, using a big second half to run away from Lehigh 81-65 in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison made their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance, dropping a hard-fought 86-80 decision to West Virginia.

Davis became the fourth coach to win Patriot League Coach of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons, joining Bucknell's Dave Paulsen (2011, 2012), Lehigh's Billy Taylor (2003, 2004) and Lafayette's Fran O'Hanlon (1998, 1999).

In 2017-18, Davis' squad went 16-2 to capture the Patriot League regular season by four games, then the Bison rolled through Loyola, Boston University and Colgate to claim another PL Tournament title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. He coached the Patriot League Player of the Year for the second straight season (Nana Foulland in 2017, Zach Thomas in 2018), and Bucknell became the first team in league history to have three First Team All-PL selections (Foulland, Thomas, Stephen Brown). The Bison again took a highly ranked team down to the wire in the NCAA Tournament, falling 82-78 to third-seeded Michigan State in the Spartans' back yard in Detroit.

In 2018-19, Davis guided the Bison to their third straight 20-win season, fifth straight Patriot League regular-season title and eighth in the last nine years.

After departing Bucknell in 2008, Davis spent one year as an assistant coach at Colgate before being named the head coach at his alma mater, Randolph-Macon. Davis achieved incredible success in his six seasons with the Yellow Jackets, posting a 141-39 (.783) record with three Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships, six NCAA Tournament berths, and a Division III Final Four appearance in 2009-10.

In his final season at RMC, Davis’ squad was ranked No. 1 in the country for three weeks during the season, went undefeated in league play and 28-3 overall, and advanced to the Elite Eight. The 28 victories tied the school record, and its 25-game winning streak set a program mark.

Following the 2014-15 campaign, Davis was selected as the ODAC Coach of the Year and the NABC South Region Coach of the Year, and he was a finalist for the Glenn Robinson National Coach of the Year Award. It was his second straight ODAC Coach of the Year honor.

Prior to his arrival at Bucknell, Davis was an assistant coach under Don DeVoe at Navy from 1998-2003. Thanks in large part to his recruiting efforts, the Midshipmen made Patriot League championship game appearances in 2000 and 2001, and the team went 80-65 in his five seasons in Annapolis.

A 1997 graduate of Randolph-Macon, Davis was a four-year letterman and two-year captain of the Yellow Jackets’ men’s basketball team. He was a two-time All-ODAC selection who finished his career with 983 points, and he was one of only five players in school history to record at least 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 100 steals.

Davis and his wife Miki have four children: 16-year-old son Kieran, 14-year-old daughter Hayden, and 10-year-old twins Kellen and Ryan.

Name	Title	Email Address	Phone
Nathan Davis	Head Coach	ndavis@bucknell.edu	570-577-1267
Paul Harrison	Assistant Coach	pjh023@bucknell.edu	570-577-3078
John Griffin	Assistant Coach	jjgriffi@bucknell.edu	570-577-1358
Joe Meehan	Assistant Coach	jfm031@bucknell.edu	570-577-3072
Johnathan Brown	Manager of Basketball Operations	jnb016@bucknell.edu	570-577-1358

Bucknell University Athletics

2018-19 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff

Coaching Staff