LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One of the most successful basketball coaches in Kentucky is calling it a career.
Bellarmine’s Scotty Davenport announced his retirement after 20 years leading the Knights.
He had a stellar career at multiple levels. Davenport won a high school state title with Ballard in 1998. He then served as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville, under two Hall of Fame coaches, Denny Crum and Rick Pitino. Davenport was also an assistant coach on Mike Pollio’s staff at Virginia Commonwealth where he coached with the future University of Kentucky coach Tubby Smith.
Davenport joined Bellarmine in 2005 and began a legendary career that has him retiring as the school’s winningest coach. He has a career record of 426-197 with a .684 winning percentage. Davenport and the Knights won the 2011 Division II National Championship and the Atlantic Sun Tournament championship in 2022. Despite winning the ASUN championship, Bellarmine wasn’t eligible to play in the NCAA Tournament because the school was in the transitional phase going from DII to Division I.
“Scott Davenport is Bellarmine basketball—plain and simple,” said athletic director Scott Wiegandt. “He came into Knights Hall in 2005 and turned this program into something that has captivated the city and, at times, even the country, for reaching previously unobtainable heights. Though his presence will be missed on the bench, his influence on the young men who have been through the program and the student-athletes currently on the team will carry on.”
Davenport was the 2011 DII Coach of the Year. He was also a Coach of the Year finalist in each of his first two DI seasons.
“Beyond his remarkable accomplishments on the court, Coach Davenport has been a hugely visible and effective ambassador for Bellarmine over the past two decades,” said Dr. Susan M. Donovan, Bellarmine’s president. “He also emerged as an advocate for the best in intercollegiate athletics because of his focus on the value of education and his commitment to the well-being of student-athletes above all else.”
It’s no secret who is taking over for Davenport. In May 2022, his son Doug, was named “coach in waiting.” Doug Davenport joined his father’s staff just before the 2016-2017 season. His ties to Bellarmine are deep. He is a 2010 graduate of the university and played guard for the Knights and was on the team which won the school’s first Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament title.
After his playing days, Doug joined the coaching staff at Xavier and then like his father, joined coach Rick Pitino’s University of Louisville team from 2012-2015. During that team UofL won the 2013 NCAA Championship, which was later revoked and the 2015 Elite Eight. From UofL, he moved to Eastern Kentucky and served under Dan McHale.