William Davis was hired as the Bellarmine University men’s tennis head coach prior to the 2019-20 season.
He will enter his seventh season with the Knights in 2025-26.
Bellarmine garnered its first-ever first-team All-ASUN accolade in 2023-24 after Jack Batchelor earned the recognition. The season before, in only its third year in Division I, the Knights had a breakout campaign under Davis, nearly tripling their win total from the previous season after going 14-10 overall. With a 6-2 mark in ASUN play that included a five-match conference winning streak, they were only one victory shy of capturing a share of the regular-season title. They earned four conference postseason awards (one All-Conference, two All-Freshman Team, one All-Academic Team).
The 2021-22 season featured five victories for the Knights, including a three-match win streak and their first-ever ASUN win (3/25/22 versus Lipscomb). Davis guided Cole Groetsch (second-team All-ASUN) and Batchelor (ASUN All-Freshman Team) to conference laurels.
In 2020-21, Bellarmine's first season in Division I and the ASUN Conference, Davis was the Interim Director of Men’s and Women’s Tennis at Bellarmine, helming both the men's and women's programs for the season.
In his first season leading Bellarmine's men, which was also the program's final year in DII, Davis guided the Knights to a 5-4 record before the coronavirus forced the cancelation of the remainder of the year. The five wins was one more than Bellarmine had tallied the entire previous season before Davis' arrival.
A former team captain at Michigan State and a Louisville native, Davis came to Bellarmine after spending three seasons as a women’s assistant coach at Virginia Tech. During his time in Blacksburg, the Hokies earned eight All-ACC awards and two ITA Atlantic Region Senior Player of the Year accolades along with having six nationally ranked singles players, three nationally ranked doubles tandems and a nationally ranked recruiting class by Tennis Recruiting Network. In his first season at Virginia Tech, the Hokies upset 25th-ranked N.C. State.
Also during Davis’ tenure, Virginia Tech had 12 Academic All-ACC selections, was bestowed the university’s Team Community Service Award in 2019 and once carried a 3.71 team GPA that marked the highest among Virginia Tech’s athletic teams.
Prior to his stint at Virginia Tech, Davis spent two years as a men’s assistant coach at Division III Washington and Lee. The Generals earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament both seasons and went a combined 31-18 while boasting 12 first-team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference awards, a Conference Player of the Year accolade and two Conference Rookie Player of the Year laurels. Both of the team’s recruiting classes with Davis on staff were nationally ranked by Tennis Recruiting Network.
In addition, Washington and Lee amassed 18 ODAC All-Academic Team honors, two CoSIDA Academic All-District notices and one Capital One Academic All-America Team recognition while posting a team GPA of 3.59 in Davis’ two years. Along with his coaching duties at Washington and Lee, Davis was the assistant director of the Duchossois Tennis Center and a member of the physical education faculty.
Davis played at Michigan State from 2009-14. He was voted captain twice and was a four-year letterman who compiled a 51-47 singles record and 30-28 doubles record. The Spartans went 75-62 in Davis’ tenure with the program while making their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and rising from last place in the Big Ten to top six over Davis’ final three years.
Davis earned a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State. He is a graduate of Kentucky Country Day School in Louisville.
