2007 Emcee - Seth Davis
CBS Sports analyst and Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis has agreed to serve as master of ceremonies at the 2007 Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards.
"It's a huge honor," Davis said. "Anything associated with Mr. Iba, I'm proud to be associated with. I obviously did not know him, but his impact on the game and the incredible respect that today's coaches have for him comes up all the time."
"I do a lot of speaking, particularly to younger audiences, and do so many scholar-athlete type events," he said.
"A big part of my message is I always get upset when I hear athletes talking about academics and how they want to go to class in case basketball doesn't work out or in case football doesn't work out. You should go to class in case it does work out. Just because you are a good athlete, you can't broaden the other part of your life? It just doesn't make sense to me. I think it's great that they take all that into account and not just athletics."
Though Iba's coaching career ended in 1970, Davis indicated Iba's legacy remains intact.
"Even young coaches today talk about him just because he is considered the founder of modern defense," Davis said. "He is considered maybe the best defensive coach of all time. I think coach (Bob) Knight would attribute a lot of his success to Mr. Iba. But I am always looking forward to learning about what came before and, between now and June, I will learn more about Mr. Iba and who he was and what he did."
Davis will be the third Sports Illustrated writer to grace the Iba Awards' guest list. SI columnists Rick Reilly and Steve Rushin served as keynote speakers at the 2001 and 2005 Iba Awards, respectively.
Davis is a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated and SI.com, where he authors a popular "Hoop Thoughts" column, and has contributed to the magazine's "Golf Plus" since 1995. He is in his fourth year as a contributor for CBS Sports' coverage of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship and joined CBS Sports in 2003 as a contributor for "At The Half," the network's college basketball halftime show. In 2004 Davis was a reporter for CBS Sports' THE NFL TODAY. He also is a featured college basketball analyst for CSTV which is owned by CBS, and MSG.
Davis indicated wheels were put in motion for him to be the Iba Awards master of ceremonies when he got an e-mail from ESPN SportsCenter anchor John Anderson, who emceed the 2006 Iba Awards. "I looked at who else has been there and the honorees they have had," Davis said. "It's really a first-class event." The only catch, said Davis, is the Iba Awards will be held on his wife's birthday. Davis said he will have to get her a really nice present.
Davis graduated in 1992 with a degree in political science from Duke University where he served as a sports columnist for The Chronicle, the university's daily campus newspaper.
Prior to joining SI, he spent three years at the New Haven Register, covering primarily local sports, the NFL, NBA and college basketball.
He is the author of a memoir, "Equinunk, Tell Your Story: My Return to Summer Camp", which was published in 2003 by Chandler House Press.
He has performed stand-up comedy in various clubs throughout New York City.
Born in Connecticut and raised in Potomac, Md., Davis lives in Ridgefield, Conn., with wife Melissa and their sons, Zachary and Noah, and their dog, Bailey.
