New Providence College basketball coach Keno Davis is surrounded by the local media at the end of a news conference announcing his hiring yesterday at Mullaney Gymnasium in Alumni Hall.

The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

PROVIDENCE — When it came time for Keno Davis to make the biggest basketball decision of his life, he did what he normally does. He called his father.

Davis received a call last Saturday from Providence College athletic director Bob Driscoll. Would the 36-year-old, newly minted consensus national coach of the year consider leaving Drake University for the Big East? Dr. Tom Davis, a coach who won nearly 600 games in a career that included a successful run at Boston College, had a quick answer.

“When I said Providence is interested, he said, ‘You’ve got to go. You’ve got to go and take a look, at least. It’s great basketball. They’re going to know their basketball up there,” said Keno Davis.

On Sunday, Davis presided over a team banquet and then he and his wife, Krista, hopped on a plane to Providence Monday morning. After a day of touring the East Side, Newport and Rhode Island’s other hot spots, Davis returned to a hotel in Boston. He spoke with Drake officials several times yesterday morning and the Iowa school offered to sweeten his contract, but he ultimately chose to make the jump to the East.

“Last night I was leaning towards coming here. But it wasn’t done, contrary to what everyone thought. I really didn’t decide until around 11 or 12 o’clock (yesterday).”

When Davis shook hands with Driscoll and PC president the Rev. Brian Shanley, a mini-celebration erupted at the intersection of Eaton Street and River Avenue. PC’s month-long search to replace Tim Welsh was over and the job is now filled by one of the top young coaches in the country.

“I’ve been walking around today with a huge smile on my face,” said Father Shanley. “I told Keno this morning that he is an answer to a prayer. I really believe that.”

After being turned down by two other candidates in very public fashion, the Friars believe they landed a prospect who may have been the best fit of anyone they’ve considered. Davis has just one season of head-coaching experience, but he led the Bulldogs to a school-record 28 wins and Drake’s first NCAA appearance in 37 years. That he lived a jump shot from the BC campus from the time he was 5 to 10 years old and still treasures his Carl Yastrzemski baseball cards made a return here exciting.

“Drake did everything that I could’ve asked of them and more. If it was about money, I’d have probably gone back. Not that they were offering more money but they were doing everything they could,” he said. “It was about what Providence is and that they aren’t. It was about the Big East, and it’s my roots and an opportunity.”

Davis would not comment on the length of his commitment to PC because he said he has yet to sign a contract. The two sides have agreed in principle, however, on a multiyear deal that will pay upward of $1 million a year, plus incentives.

“Drake did everything, and more, to try to keep me there,” he said. “It was a tough decision for us. But with my background, being in this area I love the Big East and big-time college basketball. As excited as I am about being here at Providence, I want to bring that excitement because I think we’re at that tipping point where we can do something special here.”

Who is Providence getting for all that money? A tireless, aggressive coach who wears his Midwestern roots on his sleeve. He’s not slick. In fact, he admitted he doesn’t necessarily enjoy the pomp and circumstance on display at his introduction yesterday at Alumni Hall. “When can we start practice?” he said with a smile.

Davis was a self-described “average player” in high school in Iowa and said he knew by then he wanted to coach. He enrolled at the University of Iowa, where his father coached the Hawkeyes and let his son sit alongside him as a volunteer student assistant. He charted defensive statistics for four years and fell in love with the craft.

“I wanted to be like him in a lot of ways. The coaching thing just fit for me,” he said.

Davis’ first job in the business came as an assistant coach at Southern Indiana from 1995-97 under Bruce Pearl, who now is the highly successful coach at Tennessee. He then moved to Southeast Missouri State for six years. In the spring of 2003, Tom Davis ended a four-year “retirement” to fill an opening at Drake. His first hire was his son.

“There were a lot of naysayers when we took the job (at Drake),” said Keno Davis. “They asked why come back , why is that a job you’d want to go to? They had all these things that you could look at as being negatives. As a staff we looked at those same things and said, ‘No, those are positives.’ The small school size, the population, everything about the program. Those were the reasons we wanted to be there.”

The Bulldogs finished 17-15 in 2007, their first winning season in 11 years. Tom Davis retired for good and Drake hired Keno. Picked to finish ninth in the Missouri Valley in 2007-08, the Bulldogs split their first two games and then won 21 in a row.

“I don’t care if you’re playing checkers, 21 consecutive games is an unbelievable figure,” said PC’s Driscoll.

Drake earned a five seed in the NCAAs but was upset by Western Kentucky (101-99) in a wild, overtime game. Soon after, Davis received six different national coach-of-the-year awards. Davis is the second straight first-season head coach to win national coach-of-the-year honors, following Washington State’s Tony Bennett.

Davis met his future players yesterday but admitted he knows little about the Friars. He was briefed by Driscoll and friends in the game on a PC team that returns a good collection of talent from a squad that finished 15-16 last season.

“They were able to show that the cupboard isn’t bare,” he said. “The work the previous staff had done was good. They’ve gotten some talented players in here. It’s my job to continue on what they were able to accomplish.”

Drake has one player who resides east of Chicago. Finding an assistant coach or two with roots in the East is vital, Davis says.

“It’s paramount. I’d be naïve to say I can come here with Midwest guys and recruit. I’m not saying a Midwest or West Coast guy can’t recruit here, but I need a guy that knows the Northeast better,” he said.

Davis will return to Iowa today, but will shuttle back and forth from Des Moines and hit the recruiting trail over the next few months.

kmcnamar@projo.com