Local Digest: Davey to be inducted to Santa Clara Hall of Fame

Retirement has been good to Dick Davey after over four decades of coaching basketball in the Bay Area.

Davey, 74, resides at Wailea on the island of Maui with his wife, Jeanne, and plays golf about four days a week. His handicap index, which was 16 after his final coaching year (2012), sits at nine after dipping to 5.7. Between their six grandchildren and the good life, Dick and Jeanne Davey cannot complain.

“We’re fine with it,” he said. “I never worked a day in my life where I wasn’t excited about going to work. I consider myself fortunate.”

Davey, one of the most popular and beloved coaches in the history of Santa Clara athletics, also was one of its best. The native of Ceres, back on familiar ground on the Santa Clara campus, will burnish his credentials on Saturday with his induction to the Broncos’ Athletics Hall of Fame.

Davey, the Broncos’ head coach from 1992 through 2007 and a veteran of 30 years on the Santa Clara bench, posted a record of 251-190 and led the Broncos to three NCAA Tournament appearances. His teams won three outright or shared West Coast Conference titles and he was named Coach of the Year four times.

He coached coached four WCC Players of the Year, including Steve Nash, and 34 of his players earned all-conference honors.

Davey, a sports star at Ceres High, played basketball and baseball at the University of the Pacific. He spent two seasons as a catcher in the San Francisco Giants’ farm system. After his long coaching tenure at Santa Clara, Davey served as an assistant coach under Johnny Dawkins at Stanford from 2008 to 2012. He helped Stanford win the 2012 NIT Tournament title.

“The last two coaches I worked for, Carroll Williams and Johnny Dawkins, were two of the finest coaches and human beings I’ve ever been around,” Davey said.

Despite his successful tenure at Santa Clara, Davey was pushed out in 2007 in favor of younger coaching talent. The former Ceres Bulldog does not hold a grudge.

“When I got out, I’d been there for 30 years. Coaches don’t usually last that long at any school,” Davey said. “They were more than filled with me. I was happy with the time I had.”

Randy Winn, a baseball and basketball star who played for Davey, also will be inducted. Winn was an outfielder later for the Giants.

The inductees will be presented to the public Saturday night during the annual Red & White Celebration. The event will be held at Santa Clara’s Malley Center at 6 p.m.

Stanislaus’ top athletes honored – Cal State Stanislaus track stars Abraham Alvarado and Channing Wilson have been named the Warriors’ men’s and women’s athletes of the year.

Alvarado, the top-ranked 800-meter runner in NCAA Division II (he placed second at nationals last year), won three California Collegiate Athletic Association titles in the 800, 1500 and the 4x400 relay.

Wilson won her third CCAA title in the javelin and broke her school record three times during the season. She also placed second in the league in the hammer throw. Wilson also was the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

The Stanislaus athletes were honored during the annual Warrior Athletics Banquet this week.

Youth boxing Saturday – Modesto’s youth boxers will be featured in a USA Boxing-sanctioned program Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Salvation Army Red Shield Center.

The Red Shield Boxing Club will be represented by 8-year-old Andre Flores (4-0), Damien Flores, 9, and 16-year-old Anthony Leon in his first fight. The Modesto Police Activities League brings in Ruben Wilson, 14. Eric Trejo, 13, comes from the Modesto Boxing Gym.

Young boxers from throughout the Valley and the Bay Area will compete.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 9:17 PM with the headline "Local Digest: Davey to be inducted to Santa Clara Hall of Fame."