Felton Spencer and Doug Davenport join head coach Scott Davenport’s men’s basketball staff. Photo courtesy of Bellarmine Athletics
BY MARY RINGWALD, SPORTS EDITOR
The Bellarmine University men’s and women’s basketball programs will have three new coaches standing on the sidelines this winter.
Men’s Basketball
Head coach Scott Davenport announced that Doug Davenport and Felton Spencer will join the Knights’ coaching staff after assistant coaches Michael Scott and Damien Anderson stepped down to spend time with their families.
Davenport said he could not be happier with the new additions to his coaching staff because they all have a strong love for not only basketball but also for the Bellarmine community.
“I wrote a note to (Interim President) Dr. Tegart and (Bellarmine Athletic Director) Scott Wiegandt as this was happening,” Davenport said. “Let’s go and find 10 very successful people at Bellarmine. They are all going to be different, but one thing they will all have in common is that they will have an absolute love for Bellarmine… When you look at that, I am thrilled.”
Doug Davenport, who is Scott’s son, is a 2010 Bellarmine graduate and former guard for the Knights. After his playing career, he worked as a graduate assistant for Xavier University while earning a master’s degree in education in 2012.
After graduate school, he coached under University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino from 2012 to 2015, where he helped coach the team to a 2013 NCAA National Championship and a 2015 Elite Eight appearance. He spent last season with Eastern Kentucky University as an assistant coach under Dan McHale.
The younger Davenport said he is excited to coach at a school that not only means so much to him as an alumnus, but also to the Louisville community.
“Basketball means more here,” he said. “You get those January and February Thursday night conference games that sell out, people standing outside trying to get in, or you go to Shenanigans before or after the game, you see how important it is to the community.”
Spencer is no stranger to the importance of college basketball in Louisville. He is one of the biggest people in the city, and it is not just because of his 7-foot stature. He enjoyed a four-year career at the University of Louisville before becoming the sixth pick in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Spencer played 13 NBA seasons.
In an interview with WLKY, Spencer said his choice was easy when it came to joining the Knights coaching staff.
“I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. I was helping out and coming to coach at summer basketball camp and he presented me with an opportunity that was a no-brainer,” Spencer said. “He invited me to become a part of his staff and help the Bellarmine family become more successful and grow.”
With the additions of Davenport and Spencer, Bellarmine completes a coaching line-up made up entirely of Louisville natives. Assistant coach Beau Braden is also from the city. He enters his second season with the Knights.
“When you look at the big picture of Beau, Doug and Felton, I feel like I have won the lottery,” Davenport said. “In basketball terms, it does not make a difference for what level, this is a great staff.”
Women’s Basketball
Candice Bingham, former University of Louisville standout and 2009 third-round WNBA draft pick by the San Antonio Stars, has joined the Knights women’s basketball staff for the upcoming season. She will replace former assistant coach Crystal Kelly, who accepted a coaching position at Tennessee Tech University in June.
Bingham helped lead Louisville to the NCAA Tournament championship game in 2009. In her senior season, she received First-Team All Big East honors and she was named to the Big East All-Tournament Team. She also received Second-Team ALL-BIG EAST honors in her junior season.
Head coach Chancellor Dugan is thrilled to have Bingham join her staff. She said Bingham has a great wealth of knowledge that will help the continued growth of the team.
“I am really excited,” Dugan said. “I obviously remember her as a player coming out of high school, and I just know what a class individual she is. She is the type of personality that kind of sits back and surveys and then interjects. I like that because it translates into a coaching style that I really like.”
A Louisville native, she played four years at DuPont Manual High School and posted 1,350 points, 402 rebounds, 200 assists and 91 blocked shots through her career. In her senior season, she was nominated to be a WBCA All-American and competed in the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star game.
Bingham said she looks forward to continuing last season’s success and she could not be happier with her decision to join the Knights’ coaching staff.
“It means the world,” Bingham said. “I feel at one point everyone wants to kind of get close to home or get back into their hometown. With me being home, I’ll have a lot of support from family and friends. I always want to be home because I love Louisville.”
Her hometown coaching roots run deep as she took a year-long head coaching position at Louisville’s Fern Creek High School before returning to U of L as a graduate assistant for the 2012-2013 season. She helped lead the Cardinals to the national title game and a 29-9 overall record.
Following that season, she joined the coaching staff at Western Kentucky University and helped guide it to a Sun Belt Conference Championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Before coming to Bellarmine, Bingham was an assistant coach at Manual.
Dugan said she believes her knowledge of the local schools will help the Knights’ future recruiting efforts.
“It is great for us because that is really where our recruiting efforts are based,” Dugan said.“ I think that her being an assistant coach last year at Manual, she knows all the kids in Louisville so she will be very valuable to the program.”