The first three seasons of Nathan Davis’s tenure as head coach of the Bucknell Bison were a huge success, ending in three postseason berths and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
However, Bucknell has fallen off in recent years and hasn’t had a winning season since 2019.
As such, Davis was fired on Thursday, per Stadium basketball analyst Jeff Goodman.
The Bison went 12-2o overall and 5-13 in the Patriot League, good for last place in the conference standings. It’s also coming off a year when they finished 9-23 (5-13). The lack of any real progress was clearly enough proof for Bucknell that it was time to move on from Davis.
Davis had found huge success as the head coach of Division III’s Randolph–Macon, going to the DIII tournament all six seasons he coached there. He parlayed that success into the Bucknell job and put together back-to-back NCAA Tournament seasons in 2016-17 and 2017-18. The Bison also won the Patriot League in 2018-2019 but didn’t make the tournament. Since then, however, the bottom fell out on the program.
We’ll see who Bucknell decides to replace Davis with as they attempt to climb back up the Patriot League rankings and compete with the likes of Colgate, Navy, and Lehigh.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.