Bio

Harold Davis graduated from Denton High School in 1941 at the age of 15.  He attended the University of North Texas for three years where he lettered on the basketball team and helped lead the team to a third place finish at the National Tournament.

During World War II he joined the United States Marine Corps Officer Training Program.  During this time he was able to complete his Bachelors Degree from Louisiana Tech University.  After completing Boot Camp and Officer Training School, and receiving his Commission, he was assigned to the Fourth Marine Corps Division in the Pacific.  During the battle of Iwo Jima, Harold was wounded and received the Purple Heart.  Despite his wounds, he continued in command of his company and withheld a strong enemy counterattack accounting for more than 100 Japanese being annihilated.  For this action he was awarded the Silver Star Medal.

After returning from the war and accepting the position as the first basketball coach at Howard College, it took him only two years to start a basketball dynasty.  In only four years his young teams had participated in three NJCAA basketball tournaments, and won both a Conference Championship and State Championship.

As a member of the United States Marine Corps Reserve, Davis was recalled into the Marine Corps for the Korean War.  After returning from this tour of duty, he picked up right where he left off with his coaching duties at Howard College.  His first team finished the year with 34 wins and 4 losses and won the Conference Championship, Regional Championship and reached the Final Four at the NJCAA National Tournament.  From that year on his teams averaged 24 wins and only 8 losses per season. 

In his 11 years at Howard College, his teams won four Conference Championships, qualified for nine NJCAA Regional Tournaments and earned a berth in five State Tournaments, winning one of them.   His Jayhawk squads finished twice as the Regional Finalist and twice were crowned Regional Champions advancing to the NJCAA National Tournament; reaching the Final Four in one tournament.  In addition to coaching basketball, he also coached the baseball team winning several championships and led the golf team to two State Championships.

Davis was appointed as a member of the Howard College Board of Trustees in 1971, and then subsequently elected to the position six times by the voters, serving for 37 years until the time of his death.  He served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees on several occasions.  He also served as a director for the Howard College San Angelo Foundation. 

Davis has been the recipient of many other honors in addition to the recognition he received for his actions on Iwo Jima.  He was named Big Spring’s Man of the Year in 1997.  He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of North Texas in 2000 and was named Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International.  Other prestigious honors include inductions to the Texas Junior College Coaches Hall of Honor, Howard College’s Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Western Junior College Athletic Association “Hall of Fame” as the first inductee.  In recognition of his leadership in the establishment of a successful athletic program tradition and in honor of his service to Howard College, the Physical Education Building was named the “Harold Davis Fitness Center” in 1990 and the basketball court in the Coliseum arena was named in his honor on the occasion of his induction to the WJCAC Hall of Fame in 2005.

Harold Davis passed away on October 13, 2008 at the age of 84.