Davis should stay

The fans say it. The players back it. IU's greatest athletes agree. After Wednesday's victory against Minnesota, the following quotes were heard:\nFans: "Keep Mike Davis."\nJunior Kirk Haston: "I want to introduce, as far as the players are concerned, our head coach for next season, Mike Davis."\nIU basketball great Kent Benson: "I think they should take away the 'interim' coach label they've tagged Mike Davis with."\nAnd Davis himself wants the position.\n"I want this job next year," he said.\nBut for some reason, the "interim" title still plagues Davis.\nHe took the job in September under less than hospitable circumstances -- the firing of 29-year veteran head coach Bob Knight left the community sore, the players upset and the fans angry. Expectations weren't high for a basketball program left without its "General."\nBut the basketball team has done what it wasn't expected to do this year: win.\nThe 19-11 overall record and 10-6 Big Ten record will almost surely earn the team its 30th trip to the NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers have won seven of their last nine games, two of them by 30 points or more. The only losses in that period came from two of the top five teams in the country. \n In the last regular season game, IU dominated rival Purdue, sweeping the series for the first time since 1993. The list of accomplishments goes on, both for the team and for the individual players.\nMost importantly, the players are having fun. Davis' low-profile coaching style has allowed the players to take the reigns -- something that never happened under Knight's leadership.\nMike Davis isn't Bob Knight. He is not a legend. He might not have Knight's temper or flare. But so far, Davis has equaled Knight in at least one thing: success.\nBut even with his success, Davis' fate is still up in the air.\nLast week, Michael McNeely, chief operating officer of the San Diego Chargers and former National Collegiate Athletics Association director of operations, was chosen as the new athletics director at IU. McNeely didn't take an immediate stance on Davis' future.\n"Mike has done a good job," he said. "Once the season is completed, we will begin the process to select a permanent head coach. I will assist and contribute to that process."\nMcNeely and the others involved in selecting the team's head coach should heed the signs from the fans. Getting rid of two popular basketball coaches in two years wouldn't sit well on campus. \nDavis has earned the job -- with his quiet leadership, he's taken a team that was broken without its leader and led it to more success than anyone expected.\nThe decision about Davis's future doesn't belong in an administrative committee during the summer. In the hearts and minds of the players and fans, it has already been made.