Jill Davis begins her fourth season with The University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball program and her first season as the associate head coach after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coahc and recruiting coordinator.
"Jill has all the qualities to become a dynamic head coach very soon. Her evaluation and recruitment of quality young women have been the single most important step in UTPA's revival. Before consistency can be an everyday part of this program, there must be the level of players here to make that possible. Coach Davis identified and delivered difference makers to UTPA," Craft added.
Davis has played an instrumental role in the rebirth of the Lady Broncs' program through tireless hours of evaluating, recruiting and signing student-athletes on the current roster. Over the course of the last two seasons, Davis has helped the Lady Broncs develop one of their deepest and most talented women's basketball roster in program history.
The Lady Broncs' roster over the past two seasons includes some of the best talent at the junior college level in the State of Texas to go along with a McDonald's All-American nominee, a student-athlete selected as one of the top 150 players in the country as well as a trio of top-100 players in the State of Texas.
On the court, Davis handles the perimeter players for the Lady Broncs, both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Over the course of the last two seasons, the Lady Broncs have connected on 259 three-point field goals, including 134 three-pointers during the 2004-05 season which were the fourth-most in program history. Former Lady Bronc standout Dominique Montague was one of the biggest reasons for UTPA's ability to shoot from behind the arc as she connected on 111 career three-pointers, which was the third-most in program history.
In addition to her on-court responsibilities, Davis also directs the UTPA Lady Bronc evaluations, campus visits for potential recruits as well as the Lady Bronc home presentations. The fourth-year assistant coach has her hand in all facets of the UTPA women's basketball program as she serves as the team's travel coordinator and lead scout.
Prior to coming to the Rio Grande Valley, Davis spent one season as an assistant coach at Texas Women's University under head coach Devin Gabbard. During the 2002-03 season, the Pioneers won 11 games, which were the most victories since the 1995-96 season and advanced to the Lone Star Conference Tournament for the first time in seven years. That season, the Pioneers upset Angelo State, who was ranked in 10th in the nation at the time, and swept Texas A&M-Kingsville for the first time in 13 years.
Davis started her collegiate coaching career at her alma mater, Lamar University, where she served two seasons under Craft. In her first season with the Cardinals in 2000-01, Lamar recorded a 10-10 mark in Southland Conference action, which was the highest finish in program history. The program recorded 12 wins that season, which were the most victories since the 1995-96 season.
A two-year starter for Lamar, Davis averaged 9.3 points per game as a junior, which ranked her second on the team. She followed up her junior campaign by averaging 8.5 points per game despite being injured during her senior season. For her career, she tallied 385 points along with 54 three-pointers in her two seasons.
Davis attended Midland College for two seasons where she played under former UTPA men's basketball player Ron Jones. In two seasons with the Chaps, Midland was nationally-ranked and accumulated a 50-14 record. Davis averaged 8.0 points per game during her career along with dishing out 191 assists and draining 76 three-pointers.
A native of New Boston, TX, Davis was a four-year starter for New Boston High School and guided her prep program to a 110-17 record.
Davis graduated from Lamar University with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 2000. She currently resides in Edinburg.
