Gamecock Hall of Famer Larry Davis taking over Midlands basketball program
South Carolina Hall of Famer Larry Davis is coming back to the Midlands.
Davis will be the next boys basketball coach at Brookland-Cayce High School, multiple athletic sources told The State. His hire became official at Thursday’s Lexington 2 school board meeting.
Davis replaces Robert Wells, who left last month to become Lexington High boys basketball coach. He and other new B-C coaches will be introduced at a press conference on Monday morning.
The former Gamecock is returning to high school coaching after being the head coach at Mars Hill College, a Division II school in North Carolina, for the past three seasons. The Lions won just 19 games in that span.
But Davis has had success in the high school ranks and B-C will be his fourth head coaching stop. He coached at Lewisville (2011-13), Northwestern (2013-15) and York Prep (2018-22).
Davis led Lewisville to the Class A championship in 2013. It was the Lions’ first championship in boys basketball since 1976.
At York Prep, Davis led them to a 25-1 record and Class 2A championship game in 2022, losing a thrilling battle with Gray Collegiate, 56-53. Davis will face Gray twice next season with the two teams being in Region 5-4A.
Davis was a high-profile high school basketball recruit coming out of Denmark-Olar High School, where he averaged 44 points per game and was Mr. Basketball during his senior season in 1990-91. His 1,162 points scored during his senior season is still a S.C. High School League record.
Davis signed with North Carolina and was part of the Tar Heels’ 1993 national championship team. But he transferred to South Carolina for his final two seasons.
Davis helped the Gamecocks to their first Southeastern Conference championship in 1997. In his two seasons playing for Eddie Fogler, he scored 1,068 points, second most by a two-year player at USC.
Davis averaged 16 points during the SEC championship season and was a first-team all-conference selection. In 2017, he was selected to the University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame.
“It worked out pretty well, and I have no regrets with how things turned out,” Davis told The State in 2017. “UNC gave me a chance to grow as a player and I had a chance to see the winning culture and brought some of that to South Carolina. I was grateful for the opportunity to play and grateful to finish my career at South Carolina.”
Brookland-Cayce went 19-9 this season and advanced to the second round of the Class 4A playoffs. The Bearcats are expected to return a strong nucleus next season that includes AJ Edwards, Carter Jackson and Isaiah Oree.
Gibson hired to coach B-C girls
Davis’ hire won’t be the only one for Brookland-Cayce basketball.
Former Ridge View coach Terrence Gibson is expected to be named the B-C girls basketball coach. Gibson replaces Jamaal Brown, who lasted just one season.
Gibson resigned at Ridge View last month after more than 20 years at the school. He won 259 games and led the Blazers to the 2024 Class 4A Lower State championship game.
B-C went 8-18 this season and its last winning season came in 2017-18.
Midlands High School Basketball Openings
Boys Basketball
School — Former Coach — New Coach
Brookland-Cayce — Robert Wells — Larry Davis
Gray Collegiate — Carlos Powell — Dion Bethea
Lexington — Elliott Pope — Robert Wells
Girls Basketball
Brookland-Cayce — Jamaal Brown — Terrence Gibson
Chapin — Chad Boland — Terence Jones
Irmo — Trina Wagstaff — Coretta Ferguson
Lower Richland — Aaron Lucas — TBA
Northside Christian — Jordan Leath — TBA
Ridge View — Terrence Gibson — Aaron Lucas
River Bluff — Candice Cobb — Jordan Leath
Spring Valley — Megan Assey — TBA
White Knoll — Coretta Ferguson — TBA
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 8:37 PM.
