• 2016 CoSIDA Special Awards general announcement/release
• Special Awards feature story schedule
by By Brian Magofin, Springfield College Director of Sports Communications
Six months after graduating from UMass Amherst, an aspiring young sports editor of the
Attleboro (Massachusetts) Daily Sun decided to follow a blind ad he saw in
Editor and Publisher magazine in the summer of 1966. The position was for an assistant public relations director for sports at Kenyon (Ohio) College. When Howie Davis left for Ohio in September, it’s safe to say that the sports information profession changed forever.
After a two-year stint at Kenyon, the native of Roxbury, Massachusetts, started to get the itch to return to his New England roots and in September of 1968, Davis landed at Springfield College in Massachusetts.
During his time at the Birthplace of Basketball, Davis was surrounded by titans in the coaching industry, including the likes of Ted Dunn, Irv Schmid, Mimi Murray, Vern Cox, Red Silivia, Doug Parker, Ed Bilik, Frank Wolcott, Diane Potter, Charlie Smith, Archie Allen, Ed Steitz and Dottie Zenaty.
Davis immersed himself in an athletic culture steeped with tradition and excellence and made the most of having the opportunity to work with such highly regarded coaches and student-athletes. There was Jeff Blatnick’s dominance as a wrestler
Former CoSIDA Presidents Davis (left) and Baylor University's Nick Joos in 2014
long before he went on to win an Olympic gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, Steve Waterman’s jumper at the buzzer to give Springfield’s men’s basketball team a win over a UMass squad led by Julius Irving, and the three-week trip with the baseball and softball teams to Holland in 1972.
Davis was given an opportunity to teach a course at Springfield College on sports information. However, he quickly learned that no textbook existed for the course, so he spent the entire summer of 1978 with a borrowed Smith Corona electric typewriter, crafting “Basic Concepts of Sports Information.” To this day, the book can be found in sports information offices across the country and is considered in many cases the Bible of the business.
When Dick Page announced his retirement from UMass in 1980, Davis wanted to see what this whole “Division I thing” was about. The opportunity to return to his alma mater was a chance he didn’t want to pass up.
And so for 13 years Davis worked at UMass Amherst and working alongside a young men’s basketball coach by the name of John Calipari, helped develop one of the premier basketball programs in the nation. In 1993, Davis transitioned to the administration realm at UMass, becoming the assistant department head of the sport management program where he continued to teach about the craft that he had dedicated the last three decades to - sports communications.
For Davis, it’s always been about the kids.
Former Cornell Sports Information Director Dave Wohlhueter echoed those sentiments. “Howie was a great mentor to so many young professionals; he understood what it took to do a great job. Besides leading by example, he was really able to make an incredible impact on the next generation of sports information personnel with the work he did in the classroom.”
Davis was also extremely dedicated to making an impact within the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)
Davis was enshrined into the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame
in Oct. of 2013.
community, serving on the board of directors, including being the president in 1982-83, during his career. He was recognized for his efforts by being selected to the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 1989, and received the highest award given by the organization, the Arch Ward Award, in 1995. In fact, in 2013 he was inducted into the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame, only one of four individuals to earn the distinction who are not Springfield College alums.
“Howie Davis is truly one of CoSIDA’s most admired legends,” said Langston Rogers, former sports information director at Ole Miss. “He provided excellent leadership as our president in 1982-83 and also during his many years on the board of directors. Even after he completed his time in the presidential rotation, he continued to make valuable contributions to our profession. CoSIDA has a rich history and Howie Davis has had an important impact on that history. The Lifetime Achievement Award is going to one of our best and we are grateful for his dedication and service.”
Since his time at UMass, Davis has managed to stay more than active in the world of sports information and public relations, including a stint with the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and serving in a variety of roles back at Springfield College.
As for getting his fix of the energy and excitement that surrounds game days, Davis is a fixture in the press box at UConn football games, as well as both UMass and Springfield College basketball games as the official scorekeeper.
Davis is quick to point out that his career has been shaped by the loving support of his wife Rae, as the two will celebrate their 50
th wedding anniversary on April 24. Loving support may be an understatement considering Davis missed the birth of his daughter Jeri because of football media day at Kenyon in 1967, and the birth of his son Steve on a night that Springfield had a home basketball game against UMass in 1971.
Many in the profession have been very deserving of the CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award. However, when looking at the career Davis put together and the legacy he left, you have to tip your cap to the man who literally wrote the book on how to be successful in sports information.