The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904, and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have now won 17 gold medals in the 20 tournaments they have participated in during the past 88 years, while the women have won 10 gold medals in the 12 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 48 years. While we must wait 3 years until the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will fill the void by interviewing as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible. We continue our coverage by chatting with Texas A&M Hall of Famer Barry Davis about Khris Middleton’s time in College Station and the gold medal he won in 2020.
Khris was born/raised in Charleston, SC: how did he end up at Texas A&M? His father was an armed services veteran. We had an assistant coach at the time named Scott Spinelli who spotted Khris at a camp and thought that he would be a very good player. Not a lot of other SEC schools had discovered him, but Scott built a relationship with his family/high school coach and convinced him to come down for a visit during the summertime. We were in the process of building a new workout facility and Khris and his parents thought that it would be a good place for him to grow as a young person.
Take me through the 2010 NCAA tourney:
As a freshman he only made 1-12 FG during his 1st 3 games, but he scored a season-high 19 PTS/7-10 FG in a 1st round win over Utah State: how was he able to make such an improvement from the start of that season to the end of that season? He had to figure it out: sometimes players try to do too much initially rather than just doing what they do best on a consistent basis.
In the 2nd round he scored 3 PTS but BJ Holmes missed a 3-PT shot at the buzzer in a 2-PT OT loss to Purdue: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of his college career? It was 1 of the most devastating losses that we ever had because we led the whole game before losing in OT. If we had won then we would have played in the Sweet 16 in Houston, so it was a crushing loss for our players/coaches/fans/alumni.
As a sophomore he led the Aggies with 14.3 PPG and was named 2nd-team All-Big 12: what was his secret to being a great scorer? He could go to his left or right and shoot the ball well from all over the floor. He had good size at 6’8”, could dribble/pass, and also played the game with a lot of intelligence.
Despite being the preseason co-favorite in the league during his junior season, the team finished 14–18 and Khris missed 12 games due to a knee injury: if he had been healthy then do you think you could have won a regular season title? We would have had a better record: no doubt. It was a miracle that he even tried to come back to finish off the year because there was the potential that he would hurt himself for the following year.
After the season he declared for the NBA Draft and was selected by Detroit with the 39th overall pick: were you surprised that he turned pro without a guarantee of being selected in the 1st round? I was not surprised because I knew that was where his desire was, and he felt that he was good enough and ready to become a pro. That strong belief is what led him to go against that advice that was given to him. There was a coaching change after his sophomore year when Mark Turgeon left for Maryland and he put his name in the draft before deciding to return to school. If Turgeon had left earlier then I think Khris would have stayed in the draft that year.
In 2021 as a player for Milwaukee he helped lead the Bucks to their 1st NBA title: what did it mean to you to see him win a title? I was very happy for him and the team. The Bucks have always been 1 of my favorite teams since the days of Oscar Robertson/Bobby Dandridge. They helped him develop the right work habits.
The following month he won a gold medal at the Olympics: where does he rank among the most accomplished players in school history? As a collegian he was very consistent and had a good college career. He was much better in the NBA, which is how it turns out for a lot of guys whose style is a better fit at the pro level.
His career 87.8 FT% is top-20 in NBA history: what makes him such a great FT shooter? That was the value that he brought to a team: he could shoot at a high percentage all the way from the FT line to the 3-PT line. A lot of guys cannot do that, and it is often the difference between winning and losing. He always worked on his craft to become more consistent, and at his size he was able to accomplish a lot of things.
When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? As 1 of the best basketball players in Texas A&M history. He is also an outstanding pro basketball player whose statistics/championship speak for themselves. Milwaukee was 1 of the top teams in the league during his time there, and had he not been injured a couple of times he might have finished out his career there.
