Louisville Coaching Candidate Profile: Bellarmine Head Coach Scott Davenport
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program mutually parted ways with Chris Mack, ending a nearly four-year run with the Cardinals. As the coaching search progresses, we will break down each potential candidate, from the realistic to the far reaches. Next, we'll take a look at Bellarmine Knights head coach Scott Davenport.
Name: Scott Davenport
Age: 66
Born and Raised: Louisville, Ky.
Playing Career: Iroquois High School
Previous Experience: Head coach at Ballard HS, assistant coach at Louisville. Has been head coach at Bellarmine since 2005.
Connections to Louisville: See below.
Pros: Davenport eats, sleeps, and breathes the city of Louisville. He was the head coach at Ballard HS for 10 season, spent an additional 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Louisville under both Denny Crum and Rick Pitino, and has been with Bellarmine since 2005. Not to mention that he was born and raised in Louisville, played at Iroquois HS, and also attended UofL. If there is anyone who would understand the importance of the Louisville head coaching job, it's Scotty D. He's also great from an X's and O's standpoint. He won the Division II national championship in 2011, has made four trips to the D2 Final Four, and coached five D2 All-Americans. In the Knights' transition to Division I - a time where teams usually struggle immensely - Bellarmine is 28-19 since their jump to D1 prior to the 2020-21 season.
Cons: The big elephant in the room with Davenport is his age, as he just turned 66-years-old last month. For context's sake, Denny Crum was 64-years-old when he coached his last game for Louisville. Sure, he could very well coach into his early 70's like Coach K and Roy Williams, but Davenport would still have a very short window with Louisville. Plus, coaching/recruiting at the D2 level and navigating the jump to D1 is one thing, going from that to a historically top-ten job in college hoops is another. It's not to say that Scotty D wouldn't have some semblance of success should he take the Louisville job, but it's unknown what the Cardinals' ceiling would be with Davenport at the reigns.
Other Factors: Something that could make Davenport an enticing candidate is the looming NCAA punishments - presumably severe ones - coming Louisville's way. Other than Kenny Payne, Davenport might be the best option for Louisville if they strike out on other top candidates, and need a coach to help them weather the inevitable NCAA storm.
Odds of becoming Louisville's next head coach: Low. Davenport, in all likelihood, is probably a contingency option for Louisville should they not land any of the candidates who are higher up on their list. Plus, given his age, I highly doubt Davenport would want to leave Bellarmine with just a handful of years left in his coaching career.
Other Candidates:
(Photo of Scott Davenport: Marc Lebryk - USA TODAY Sports)
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