Former Iowa players remain close with Tom Davis

Former Iowa player Ryan Bowen just ended a 10-year NBA playing career this year, chalked full of four playoff runs. Despite that professional success, the Fort Madison native still gets emotional when he talks about the first time Tom Davis considered recruiting him.

"He watched me at different camps, different tournaments and never thought I was good enough to play," said Bowen, who retired from the NBA this year. "One day he saw me play at a practice before we left to go on this AAU tournament, and it was Mac McCausland's team. It was (future Hawkeye) Kent McCausland, (future Cyclone) Klay Edwards, (Kansas player) Raef LaFrentz and we all were on the same team there. When he watched me play at that practice and thought, 'You know what, I think maybe this guy has a chance to play for us.' For him to come out and tell that story to me just gives me chills.

"To think that you always knew when he was in the building watching a summer league game. To think that there was one moment that kind of he said, 'All right I saw something I liked,' that still … I think about that the night when I realized they were going to start recruiting me. I'll never forget it. I was so excited. It was nothing like knowing I was going to have a chance to go play at Iowa."

Davis still commands respect from his former players, but not for his on-court success. His demeanor and friendly disposition made him life-long friends with his former players.

"I can think of a couple of different times where I was the only freshmen that had a car," said J.R. Koch, whose Iowa career ended concurrently with Davis' in 1999. "Some of the other freshmen were struggling with the way things were. I would be the one to drive them out to coach's house at 8 o'clock at night to talk to them. He was serious about, 'Hey my door is open. If you want to talk, let's talk.' I gained a lot of respect with the way he handled everything from just kind of all the way through."

"I really think the way Coach Davis just worked with me and believed in me, and I think more than anything the confidence he showed in me really was very beneficial throughout at Iowa and my career," said Bowen, who graduated from Iowa in 1998. "Even my first years at Iowa I scored like three points a game and four points a game. He always kept on me, always kept on me, 'You're better than that. You've got to work harder.' He just instilled that work ethic in me that really carried me through my professional career."

Kenyon Murray played for Davis through 1996. He said the players learned how to grow up as leaders under Davis.

"He did a great job of delegating responsibilities to his assistants, but he also did a great job of delegating responsibilities to us players," said Murray, who lives in Cedar Rapids and is an analyst for the Big Ten Network. "He made us accountable for everything that went on the program, from our conditioning and weightlifting to our pre-game meals to our pre-game preparation. He did a lot for us as young men in allowing us to develop and grow, not only as basketball players but as students. I thought that was a great thing he did for us where we weren't just athletes, we were students, and we were able to be college kids, too."

After he was forced out at Iowa, Davis led Drake until 2007. Ironically, he retired the same day his Iowa successor, Steve Alford, resigned at Iowa. But it was Davis' absence from his Drake successor's press conference (son Keno Davis) that struck Bowen.

"It's not about him. He's shown that over the years," Bowen said. "The day he stepped down at Drake, he was nowhere to be found because he wanted it to be Keno's day. He could care less about being it the end of his coaching career. It was all about Keno, and he didn't want to be in that spotlight.

"Walking around I can't tell you how many people from my golf tournament down here in Burlington have said what a great guy he is, and it must have been an honor to play for him. Playing golf with him, he acted like we were golfing partners for years and things like that."

Davis,  71, still lives in Iowa City. He has kind words for many of his ex-players, including Bowen and Winfield native Jess Settles, who battled back injuries throughout his career.

Davis on Bowen: "He's such a positive person that he could be good at whatever he does. I said, 'Ryan, you know what I think you should be' -- he kind of got a smile on his face he said 'I have no idea what you're talking about.' ... 'I think you should be a politician.' If you're ever been around him, it's hard to find somebody that doesn't like him because he's such a positive, energetic kind of guy. Of course that's why he was such a great player and great team leader." 

Davis on Settles: "He gave you everything he had every day. Whatever he had, he'd give it. He was such a good competitor, and he was really appreciated by his teammates as well as his coaches. When you get a guy or two like that, it permeates the rest of your team. The rest of your team starts to give a little extra, work a little harder when they see that sacrifice like what Jess was able to do."

Koch, now a real estate agent in Peoria, Ill., kind of laughs when he talks about watching basketball because he interjects some of Davis' words into his own thoughts.

"When I watch games, I hear myself saying things that he said," Koch said. "I coached high school hoops for a couple years, and I ran 55 full-court pressure. Once you play that way, you learn to appreciate it and what goes in and when it's done right like controlling the tempo. He loved controlling the tempo. He loved getting that spurt of eight points, whatever it is. That was the way he coached and I learned to love to play that way.

"He's just a great guy. he wouldn't come out at yell at you a lot, he'd give you that 'Junior' or whatever it is. He'd bring you over, he'd talk to you about it."

"He's a Hall of Fame coach. He's a great coach. I appreciated him more that senior year and now than I did that first three years."