Davidson's basketball team first reached considerable success in the 1960s under Coach Lefty Driesell, when Sports Illustrated ranked it No. 1 in the country prior to the 1964–65 season.[8]
The Wildcat men have competed in 11 NCAA tournaments (1966, 1968–70, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006–08, and 2012). Their last tournament victory was in 2008 over Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen. With that victory, the Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight where they lost to the eventual champion Kansas Jayhawks 59–57, capping off an incredible run that saw the rise of Stephen Curry to national prominence. The Wildcats' NCAA Tournament run came after finishing their regular season undefeated in conference play, at 20–0, and as the champions of the Southern Conference tournament. Curry led the nation in scoring in 2008–09, his last season at Davidson before declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft.
Under the guidance of Coach Bob McKillop, the Wildcats have consistently posted winning seasons. In 2006–07, the team completed its regular-season conference schedule with only one loss and entered the Southern Conference tournament as a No. 1 seed, where the team would win the Southern Conference tournament for the second consecutive season.
In 2005–06, the Wildcats went 20–10 and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after winning the Southern Conference tournament. In 2004–05, the Wildcats were undefeated in conference play at 16–0 and advanced to the third round of the NIT. In 2001–02, the Wildcats won the Southern Conference tournament and lost a close game to Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
In addition to Driesell and McKillop, a number of notable NCAA men's basketball head coaches have coached at Davidson. Matt Doherty, former head coach of SMU, Notre Dame, North Carolina and Florida Atlantic, experienced his first coaching job as an assistant under McKillop, who, not coincidentally, was Doherty's high school coach on Long Island. Former Virginia head coach and current East Carolinaathletic directorTerry Holland is a Davidson graduate (Class of 1964) and was Driesell's first recruit at Davidson, before advancing to assistant coaching, head coaching and athletic director duties at Davidson. Larry Brown, who would go on to win an NCAA championship with Kansas in 1988 and NBA championship with Detroit in 2004, began his nomadic head coaching career at Davidson, managing to depart before the start of his first season. Jim Larrañaga, who took George Mason to the 2006 Final Four, is a former Davidson assistant coach. Rick Barnes of Texas was also a Davidson assistant.
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2013)
The men's soccer team at Davidson was declared a varsity sport in 1956 and had their first All-American player, Claude Finney, just four years later in 1960.
The peak of the soccer program was in 1992 when the team made a run to the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament Final Four. Led by two-time All-American Rob Ukrop, Davidson finished the regular season 17–5–5, earning an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Three electrifying wins — two on penalty kicks and one in sudden death overtime — propelled Davidson into the Final Four, which miraculously was being hosted by Davidson on the school's campus. Davidson lost 3–2 in overtime against San Diego in the semifinal game, but the team received plenty of accolades. Ukrop led the nation with 31 goals and 72 points and was awarded the Adi Dassler Award, given to the nation's best player. Head coach Charlie Slagle was awarded NCAA Division I Coach of the Year for men's soccer. Remarkably, all of this was accomplished without the use of a single athletic scholarship on the 1992 team, leading The New York Times to herald the team as "22 educated feet."[9]
The Wildcats wrestling team is coached by Andy Lausier. The team was established in 1920 and has won 293 dual meets, lost 601, and tied 18. The Wildcats last winning season came in 2004–2005 under the coaching of T. J. Jaworsky and Bob Patnesky. Davidson has never had an All-American wrestler at the NCAA Wrestling Team Championship and has had just eleven Southern Conference champions through 2018.[10]
