'I can't do this without you': Former national player of the year, coach dies (2024)

A staple in the Madison area for his play on the basketball court and as a coach has died.

Chris Davis Sr., who was most recently the coach of Sun Prairie West boys basketball, died according to his son, Chris Davis Jr. The cause of death has not been publicly announced.

“Everybody in the world know if you see me you seeing my pops too. Man I don’t even know if I could be here for long without you Big Dawg,” Davis Jr. wrote on Instagram on Saturday. “God please give me one more conversation, one more basketball game, one more everything I CANT DO THIS WITHOUT YOU DAD. IM HURT. Everybody love you pops.

“I NEVER THOUGHT ILL WAKE UP AT 6:55am to hear this. Dad please please come back to me I love you with all my heart.”

Davis Sr., a 2007 Madison East graduate and 2014 UW-Whitewater graduate, played on Whitewater’s NCAA Division III men’s basketball national championship team in 2012 and was named WIAC player of the year and Division III national player of the year, averaging 22.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

“We are shocked and saddened upon hearing of the passing of Chris Davis Sr.,” a statement from the Eastside basketball Twitter account said. “He was a beloved member of East High School, the Eastside community and an integral part of Eastside Basketball. Our prayers, hearts and thoughts go out to his loved ones.”

According to a Wisconsin State Journal profile in 2012, Davis Sr.’s love for his son played a large role in his college choices. He wanted to stay close to his son, so he decided to attend Madison Area Technical College to play basketball after high school. But he was kicked off the team his sophomore year after getting into a fight with a teammate.

Davis Sr., who briefly dropped out of high school during his sophomore year and eventually became a teenage father before returning to East, chose to use his remaining two seasons of college basketball eligibility at Whitewater. His breakout season came in 2011-12, when the 6-foot-6 forward started 29 of 30 games and helped secure the national title.

After his college basketball eligibility ran out at the end of that season, Davis Sr. tried his hand at a return to football. After being named national player of the year by two organizations for his efforts to help the Warhawks’ men’s basketball team secure its first national title since coach Pat Miller’s senior season in 1989, he quickly began work as a tight end with the Warhawks’ three-time defending national champion football team in the spring of 2012 and during offseason conditioning that summer.

It wasn’t the first time Davis Sr. had been on the gridiron, he had earned first-team All-Big Eight Conference honors at Madison East as a senior in 2006, and was able to secure a spot on the Warhawks’ roster, appearing in 10 games over the 2012 and 2013 football seasons.

Davis Sr. moved into coaching after his playing days, spending eight seasons as an assistant at Madison East for Purgolders coach Matt Miota before taking over as coach at Sun Prairie West for the 2022-23 season, with his son playing a key role as a sophomore. Davis Jr. averaged 40.8 points per game and led Sun Prairie West to its first Big Eight championship in the school’s first year of existence.

When Davis Sr. took over the West program in its first season after the district split into two schools, Sun Prairie athletic director Eric Nee highlighted Davis Sr.’s extensive coaching background.

According to Nee, Davis’ first coaching job was in eighth grade working at an after-school program at O’Keefe Middle School in Madison, and he’d spent over a decade in area youth leagues, AAU and high school programs.

Sun Prairie West finished 15-8 in Davis Sr.’s first season as the Wolves’ coach, but he didn’t make it through his second season after he was suspended for 13 days before district administrators decided in January to fire him, despite the team being in a tight race atop the Big Eight standings with Davis Jr. leading the state in scoring at the time with 41.7 points per game.

Davis Jr., who finished his junior season as the state’s top scorer while leading the Wolves to the the WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal round, announced in June that he’s planning to attend DME Academy, which is a prep school, at St. John’s Northwestern Academies in Delafield for his senior season.

Davis Jr. said at the time that he was extremely excited about the decision, explaining the move will help him “prepare to play at the next level,” including competing against top players nationally.