The amount of honors that George Davis and his athletes compiled during his tenure is staggering. The irony is that his first love was basketball.
"My first job was in the physical education department in the Newburyport (MA) middle and elementary schools, and in the spring I wanted to coach track and field to broaden the kids' horizons in athletics," Davis said.
"My second job was at Salem (NH) H.S., when they opened up the new high school and had a brand new track. And I became the track coach," Davis added. "But I kept trying to be a basketball coach."
The May 12 induction marks the fourth time that Davis has been inducted into a hall of fame. A 1963 graduate of Plymouth State College, he was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1994, as well as the Pinkerton Academy Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Greater Lowell Road Runners Hall of Fame in late April.
"Getting into the Hall of Fame, I think, is the highest honor as you can bestow upon a coach," Davis said.
From the time he started the UMass Lowell men's program in 1970 to his retirement in 2002, he coached 78 All-Americans. Perhaps equally impressive, he coached 34 New England champions, which includes all three NCAA divisions.
Davis had many crowning moments during his career, highlighted in 1991 when he guided the men's cross country team to the NCAA championship and in 1988 when Hall of Fame member Jane Servi won the national championship in the indoor high jump.
Alongside those accolades, he also holds the year 1983-84 as one of his favorite, when UMass Lowell captured the Eastern League championship in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field.
"At that time, the Eastern League was more than 80 years old, and we were the only school that ever did that," Davis explained. "It was a real strong track league. In those days there weren't a lot of conferences like there are today. The Eastern League had a lot of the Division II and III schools and some Division I teams, so it was quite an accomplishment."
In addition Davis was the recipient of many awards and was named NCAA Division II New England/Northeast Region Coach of the Year for men's track and field or cross country an astounding 15 times, as well as four times while coaching the UMass Lowell women.
In 1991, after winning the NCAA Championship in cross country, he was voted the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year.
Under Davis' leadership, the men's cross country program finished among the top 10 in the NCAA championship 11 times. From 1973 to 2002, the River Hawks competed in the NCAAs 13 times, and were represented individually five times.
In 2002, Davis' final season with the cross country teams, he guided UMass Lowell to its third straight NCAA Northeast Region title where the River Hawks finished in the top four spots to score an astounding 17. As is true today, the success from the cross country season routinely carries into the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.
In 2000, Davis led the UMass Lowell women to third place at the New England Indoor Track and Field Championships - then the highest finish ever for a non-Division I school.
The UMass Lowell women then moved on to place a best-ever 10th at the NCAA indoor track and field championships.
In 2001-02, the UMass Lowell men enjoyed best-ever finishes of third place in the New England indoors and fourth place at the New England outdoors.
Davis resides in Manchester, NH, and Ossippee, NH, with his wife Jean. They have raised two grown children.
