By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

The best lessons in life come early. Erin Dickerson Davis, William & Mary's newly hired women's basketball coach, learned a big one at her first basketball practice as a fifth grader.
 
She was on time, which was good, but was still wearing her school uniform, which was not. Her coach was in no mood for excuses and kicked her out of practice. She was stunned and embarrassed.
 
Oh, did we mention the coach was her father?
 
"No special treatment, man," said Davis, whose hiring was announced Monday. "He taught me young that you've got to do what you're supposed to do or you're not going to make it very far.
 
"When I got to high school, I played for Corry Irvin, who is now an assistant coach at Mississippi State. I remember after my first practice saying to my dad, 'Thank you very much for preparing me, because she does not mess around.' It didn't take me long to see that he was right."
 
From that moment on, Davis was always prepared — for basketball, for school, and for life.
 
Growing up in South Side Chicago, Davis attended Whitney Young, the city's first public magnet high school. After playing four seasons for Irvin, during which she scored more than 1,000 points, Davis took her athletic and academic talents to the suburbs at Northwestern University.
 
Davis played 112 games in four seasons primarily as a dependable shooter off the bench. In 2009, she graduated with a B.S. in learning and organizational change. Few were surprised when she went directly into coaching.
 
Davis quickly became a rising star. In 2016, as a 29-year-old assistant at Georgetown, she was named to the WBCA's 30 Under 30 — 30 up-and-coming coaches under the age of 30. In 2020, just before her first season at Wake Forest, The Athletic included Davis among 21 assistant coaches ready to lead their own program.
 
Davis felt ready. Two seasons on Jen Hoover's staff at Wake Forest only confirmed that.
 
"She really empowered me from the very beginning," Davis said. "She had followed my career and really felt like I had great things on the horizon. She believed in me more than I might have believed in myself at that point.
 
"When I got to Wake Forest and was able to sit with her and talk about the program, I was like, I love this. I can do this."
 
Hoover isn't happy about losing Davis, who became a hit with the players, coaches and fan base. But she's proud to see another protégé land a head coaching job.
 
"She was phenomenal for me from the day she got here," Hoover said. "I elevated her to associate head coach not even after a full year because she really was my right-hand person.
 
"William & Mary has a lot of similarities to Wake Forest and Northwestern, so it was something that was very attractive to her. She's super-excited to lead a program that values the educational side along with basketball. She's a rock star, and she'll do a phenomenal job."
 
Northwestern coach Joe McKeown, who coached Davis in her senior year and has followed her coaching career, sees William & Mary as a good fit.
 
"I coached at George Washington (1990-2008) and lived in Northern Virginia, so I'm a big fan of William & Mary," he said. "This is a place for great success with her ability to recruit the Northeast and nationwide.
 
"She'll be recruiting academic student athletes, and she was one. That's what you're going to need at William & Mary. She'll be able to attract some great players there."
 
Basketball has always been a passion for Davis. But it hasn't come at the expense of her family.
 
When it came time to pick a college, she chose one on the outskirts of Chicago. Since her parents, Bryan and Kim, moved to Northern Virginia, she has coached at Towson, Georgetown, Wake Forest and now W&M — all at least manageable drives.
 
Proximity became particularly important six years ago when Davis and her husband, Thomas Davis, welcomed their daughter, Lyla, into the world.
 
"My family without a doubt is the most important thing in my life," she said. "It's very special to have them around."
 
Bryan instilled work ethic on the basketball court. And Kim, Davis said, "has shaped me into the woman I am today."
 
Like all new hires, Davis will have little time to unpack her boxes. The Tribe has at least one scholarship available, and recruiting is one of her strengths. She's eager to hit the trail.
 
Davis is well aware that William & Mary, long regarded as a Public Ivy, has strict admission requirements. But she's coached at programs with similar standards, most notably Georgetown and Wake Forest.
 
"I love the challenge, and it is a challenge," she said. "You can't just look at a great player and say, 'That's the one, we're bringing her to the program.'
 
"But you can sell the life after basketball that these young women want to know about. You can sell that to them and their families along with a pretty stellar basketball career in a great conference like the CAA."
 
Another experience Davis can rely on came in her days at Northwestern. She played her first three seasons for Beth Combs, who had recruited her out of Whitney Young. Combs resigned after the 2007-08 season, and McKeown took over the program as a total stranger.
 
"I went through something very similar to what these girls are going through," Davis said. "You're anxious and want to know who this new person is and what they bring to the table. I'm glad I've had the opportunity to be on the other end of that so I know how to approach the student athletes.
 
"I see great potential in this team. They want to compete, and I've heard nothing but good things."
 
Davis is ready to lead them.