Scott Davenport became the 11th coach in Bellarmine University men's basketball history on April 29, 2005.
Davenport will enter his 16th season at Bellarmine in 2020-21.
Prior to Bellarmine's rise to Division I and the ASUN Conference, Davenport built the program into a Division II powerhouse. In his sixth year, he took Bellarmine all the way to the top by leading the Knights to the 2011 NCAA Division II Tournament national championship. For his efforts, he was named national Coach of the Year by two different organizations: the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Division II Bulletin.
In 15 seasons in DII at Bellarmine, Davenport amassed an overall record of 364-109 (.770 winning percentage) and a Great Lakes Valley Conference record of 192-65 (.747). The Knights advanced to four Final Fours (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017), captured five GLVC Tournament titles (2010, 2011, 2017, 2018, 2019) and secured at least a share of six GLVC regular-season championships. Before transitioning to DI, Bellarmine carried the nation's longest active streak of consecutive appearances in the DII NCAA Tournament with 12. The Knights won at least 20 games in all 12 of those seasons and reached 30 wins on three occasions.
In addition to his national Coach of the Year honors in 2011, Davenport was named GLVC Coach of the Year in 2011, 2012, 2017 and 2018. He mentored: five DII All-Americans in Braydon Hobbs, Jeremy Kendle, Jake Thelen, Rusty Troutman and Adam Eberhard; three GLVC Player of the Year recipients in Kendle, Hobbs and Thelen; and another GLVC Freshman of the Year and National Player of the Year in Hobbs.
In Bellarmine's final season in DII, Davenport pushed the Knights to their 12th straight berth in the DII NCAA Tournament before the tourney was canceled as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus. Bellarmine went 20-8, racking up its 12th season in a row of at least 20 wins under Davenport.
Bellarmine extended its run of championship seasons under Davenport in 2018-19. The Knights wrangled their third straight GLVC Tournament championship and posted a 28-5 record, marking a third consecutive season with at least 28 wins. Bellarmine earned its 11th straight berth in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16. The Knights once again led the nation in field-goal percentage, sinking shots at a program record-tying 54.5 percent clip.
Bellarmine had yet another extraordinary season under Davenport in 2017-18. The Knights finished 29-3 and captured their second GLVC Tournament title in a row and fourth overall on Davenport's watch. Bellarmine won an outright GLVC regular-season championship for the second straight season, marking the fifth consecutive year the Knights won at least a share of the regular-season crown. Davenport was voted GLVC Coach of the Year for the fourth time and guided Bellarmine to a 10th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
In 2016-17, the Knights earned a fourth NCAA Midwest Region title and trip to the Final Four in seven years while going 32-4 in accumulating the second-most wins in program history. The NCAA Tournament appearance represented the program's ninth in a row. Davenport pushed the Knights to an outright GLVC East title and their third GLVC Tournament championship. For his efforts, Davenport was chosen as the GLVC Coach of the Year for a third time.
Davenport guided the Knights to a GLVC East title (15-3) and a 23-7 overall finish in 2015-16. Bellarmine also secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth consecutive year.
In 2014-15, Davenport led the Knights to their third Final Four in five years following a GLVC East championship and an NCAA Midwest Regional title. The Knights finished 31-4 overall and 17-1 in the GLVC. The run to the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament marked Bellarmine's seventh straight appearance in the Big Dance.
The 2011-12 campaign was another outstanding season as the Knights went 29-4 and made their second straight appearance in the Elite Eight and Final Four. Bellarmine captured another GLVC East crown with a 16-2 league mark as Davenport earned co-Coach of the Year honors in the GLVC.
In 2010-11, everything came together as Davenport led Bellarmine to a 33-2 record while capturing the Knights’ first national championship in any sport. Among the milestones reached by the 2011 squad were best winning percentage, most wins and most consecutive wins. Davenport's Knights had a 17-1 GLVC regular-season record while competing in arguably the toughest conference division in all of college basketball. His colleagues recognized him for this accomplishment by voting him the GLVC Coach of the Year.
After a breakout 2008-09 season, the nation was beginning to take notice of Bellarmine University. Heading into the 2009-10 season, Sporting News tabbed the Knights as preseason No. 1. The Knights would finish with a 23-9 record and win the GLVC Tournament championship for the first time in program history.
In the 2008-09 season, Davenport led the Knights to one of the best seasons in Bellarmine basketball history, setting school records for most wins in a season, most games played and highest in-season national ranking. His 26-7 Knights made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, narrowly losing to the eventual national champion in overtime in the NCAA Midwest Regional final.
In his debut season, Davenport — who inherited a program that had finished last in the GLVC the year before — led his troops to Bellarmine's first .500 finish since 2001, and the first conference tournament appearance since 2002. The following year Davenport’s charges went 12-15, which included three losses in the NABC Classic at Freedom Hall against Division I opponents Louisville, Ohio and Saint Joseph’s. Improvement continued in 2007-08, as Davenport and the Knights once again finished with a winning record at 17-11 and returned to the GLVC Tournament, where they lost in the first round to eventual champion Drury.
Prior to coming to Bellarmine, Davenport served nine years as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville under national championship-winning Hall of Fame coaches Denny Crum and Rick Pitino. He also served a year as an assistant coach on Mike Pollio’s staff at Virginia Commonwealth where he coached alongside future Kentucky coach Tubby Smith.
Before heading to Louisville, Davenport spent 10 seasons as the head boys' coach at Ballard High School, where he won a state championship in 1988 and coached two future NBA players in DeJuan Wheat and Allan Houston.
A Louisville native, Davenport and his wife, Sharon, have two sons, Russ and Doug, who are both Bellarmine graduates.
Doug Davenport joined the Bellarmine University men’s basketball program as an assistant prior to the 2016-17 season.
In 2019-20, Bellarmine's final season in Division II, Davenport helped push the Knights to a 20-8 record and their 12th straight berth in the DII NCAA Tournament before the tourney was canceled as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus.
Bellarmine extended its run of championship seasons in 2018-19. The Knights wrangled their third straight GLVC Tournament championship and posted a 28-5 record, marking a third consecutive season with at least 28 wins. Bellarmine earned its 11th straight berth in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16. The Knights once again led the nation in field-goal percentage, sinking shots at a program record-tying 54.5 percent clip.
Bellarmine had yet another extraordinary season in 2017-18. The Knights finished 29-3 and captured their second GLVC Tournament title in a row while winning an outright GLVC regular-season championship for the second straight season. Bellarmine made a 10th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
In Davenport’s first season, the Knights had a magical year. They won an outright GLVC East regular-season title and their first GLVC Tournament championship since 2011 with a 74-61 victory over Lewis in the finals. Bellarmine followed by celebrating an NCAA Midwest Region title in Knights Hall behind an 84-66 triumph over Findlay in the Sweet 16, and the Knights advanced to the Final Four in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after a 92-72 romp over Colorado Mines in the Elite Eight.
Bellarmine finished the 2016-17 campaign at 32-4, a single win shy of the program record. The Knights went 17-1 in the GLVC to tie the best conference mark in program history. They set new program records for winning streak (19), games played (36), assists (689), 3-pointers made (312), free-throw percentage (79.0), field goals (1,031) and points (2,952).
Davenport, the son of Head Coach Scott Davenport, had deep ties to Bellarmine before joining the coaching staff. He’s a 2010 graduate of the university and played guard for the Knights while being a member of the 2010 squad that won the program’s first GLVC Tournament title. The team earned berths in the NCAA Tournament in 2009 and 2010, the former ending a drought that had lasted since 1991.
Following his playing days at Bellarmine, Davenport served on the coaching staff at Xavier, where he earned a master’s in education in 2012. He went on to serve on Coach Rick Pitino’s staff at Louisville from 2012-2015 (2013 NCAA champions, 2015 NCAA Elite Eight) before moving on to Eastern Kentucky University in 2015-16 where he served under Coach Dan McHale. The 2012-13 Louisville squad went 35-5 and preceded its national title run with a Big East Tournament championship.
Beau Braden rejoined the Bellarmine University men's basketball coaching staff as an assistant prior to the 2018-19 season.
In 2019-20, Bellarmine's final season in Division II, Braden helped push the Knights to a 20-8 record and their 12th straight berth in the DII NCAA Tournament before the tourney was canceled as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus.
Bellarmine extended its run of championship seasons in 2018-19. The Knights wrangled their third straight GLVC Tournament championship and posted a 28-5 record, marking a third consecutive season with at least 28 wins. Bellarmine earned its 11th straight berth in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16. The Knights once again led the nation in field-goal percentage, sinking shots at a program record-tying 54.5 percent clip.
Braden was first an assistant coach at Bellarmine during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. In the latter campaign, the Knights earned a fourth NCAA Midwest Region title and trip to the Final Four in seven years while going 32-4 in accumulating the second-most wins in program history. The NCAA Tournament appearance represented the program's ninth in a row. The Knights won an outright GLVC East title and their third GLVC Tournament championship.
In 2015-16, Braden's first-ever season at Bellarmine, the Knights secured a GLVC East title (15-3) and a 23-7 overall finish. Bellarmine also secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth consecutive year.
A native of Louisville, Braden played basketball at DeSales High School before going on to Centre College where he was a four-year player and two-time team captain. The Colonels were 92-21 during his playing career, and they posted a 25-3 record and ascended as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during his junior season. He was part of three Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship teams and played in three NCAA Division III national tournaments.
After his college playing days, Braden embarked on a collegiate coaching career that has provided experience at virtually every level. He served as a graduate assistant at Georgetown College then served on the coaching staffs at St. Catharine College, Morehead State University and the University of Tennessee before returning to his hometown to serve on Scott Davenport’s staff at Bellarmine in 2015. He returned to Morehead for the 2017-18 season but came back to Bellarmine in the summer of 2018.
Braden received his bachelor's degree in government and economics from Centre in 2009 and his master's degree in sports management from Morehead State.
Al Davis, a former standout player for Bellarmine, joined the Knights as an assistant coach prior to the 2019-20 season.
In the program’s final season in Division II, Davis helped Bellarmine post a 20-8 record in 2019-20 as the Knights earned their 12th straight berth in the DII NCAA Tournament before it was canceled due to the coronavirus.
Davis played two seasons at Bellarmine, starting at guard in both 2015-16 and 2016-17. In the latter, he was named GLVC Defensive Player of the Year. Davis led the team in minutes played per game (30.0) and steals (61), finished second on the team in assists (3.4) and 3-pointers made (45), and ranked third in scoring (11.5). He was selected to the SCB Hall of Fame Classic All-Tournament Team and the All-Tournament Team at the NCAA Midwest Regional.
Bellarmine secured an outright GLVC East regular-season championship, the GLVC Tournament title and a berth in the Final Four while going 32-4 in Davis’ senior season.
In his junior campaign, Davis helped push Bellarmine to a GLVC East title, a bid to the NCAA Tournament and a 23-7 overall finish. He averaged 7.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists while leading the team with 40 steals.
Davis majored in sports administration at Bellarmine and received a master's in sports administration from the University of Cincinnati in 2019. He’s a native of Colorado Springs, Colorado.