ARLINGTON – New UT Arlington Head Men's Basketball Coach Greg Young has promoted both Royce Johnson and Riley Davis, helping solidify the Mavericks' coaching staff.
 
Both previously assistant coaches for the last three seasons with UTA, Johnson has been elevated to Associate Head Coach, while Davis has been moved to Assistant Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator.
 
"I am so thrilled to have Coach Johnson and Coach Davis commit to staying on staff with me here at UT Arlington," commented Young. "We have worked together for the last three years and have grown to trust and rely on each other on a daily basis. Both of them are extremely hard workers and very loyal to our university, basketball program and student-athletes. They invest daily with our players, and are extremely knowledgeable on what it takes for our program to be successful in every aspect.
 
"Both are great family men and have had great success in the game of basketball at all levels," Young continued. "I trust and know that they will do everything they can with our players on a daily basis to help them to become the best people and student-athletes who proudly represent UTA. Again, I am so excited they have decided to stay part of our basketball family and continue on this journey with us."
 
In their first seasons on the Mavs' bench, Johnson and Davis were instrumental in guiding a UTA team predicted to finish 2nd-to-last in the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Poll to a 2nd-place finish in the 2018-19 regular-season standings and a berth in the Sun Belt Tournament Final for the second-straight year.
 
In 2019-20, both helped UTA finish in the top 40 in the nation in four key statistical categories: assist-to-turnover ratio (16th, 1.3), 3-point percentage defense (20th, 29.6), fewest turnovers per game (29th, 11.2) and assists per game (35th, 14.9). The 29.6 percent rate for opponents from the 3-point line set a single-season program record for defensive performance by the Mavs, bettering the mark set in 2018-19 of 29.8.
 
This past season, the Mavs once again wrapped up a year in the top 40 in the country in the following categories: blocks per game (21st, 4.8), steals per game (24th, 8.3), turnover margin (33rd, +2.8) and 3-pointers made per contest (37th, 9.0).
 
Below is more information about both Johnson and Davis prior to their time arriving at UTA.
 
ROYCE JOHNSON
A staple of North Texas prep basketball, Johnson – better known as 'Snoop' – served as the head boys basketball coach at Kimball High School in Dallas from 1998-2014. He compiled a 373-76 record (.831) in 14 seasons, had more than 130 players earn college scholarships and led the Knights to three state championships.
 
A 2013 graduate of Thomas Edison University, Johnson started his career as an assistant coach under his father, Goree, at Kimball in 1995. He helped lead the 1996 and 1997 teams to state titles. He assumed the head coaching position in 1998 and helped develop and mentor future NBA players Quinton Ross, Jeryl Sasser, Acie Law, Juwan Evans and Jalen Jones.
 
In 2002, he served as the head coach of the USA Basketball U19 national team that claimed the gold medal at the World Global Games. The team featured future NBA players Chris Bosh, Jarrett Jack, Antoine Wright and Ike Diogu.
 
RILEY DAVIS
Davis served as the video coordinator and director of player development at Tennessee for two seasons before coming to UTA. Prior to his stint at Tennessee, Davis served in numerous collegiate coaching roles – primarily at Texas – while gaining experience in the NBA scouting ranks.
 
Davis' seven total years at Texas were split into two separate stints: the first coming with two years as a volunteer student assistant (2009-11) and one year as a graduate assistant (2011-12). In those roles, he assisted in film exchange as well as all aspects of video coordination and internal operations.
 
After leaving Austin in 2012, Davis spent the 2012-13 season as an assistant coach at Sam Houston. He then spent one year as a regional advance scout for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats (now the Charlotte Hornets) in 2013-14. Davis returned to the Texas staff in 2014-15 to serve in the full-time role of special assistant/video coordinator before embarking to Tennessee along with head coach Rick Barnes.
 
Davis played basketball at Western Texas College in 2006-07 before transferring to Howard College, where he played the following season. At Howard, Davis received team awards for academic excellence and maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA.
 
After completing his junior-college eligibility, Davis served as a student assistant at Howard during the 2008-09 campaign. He coordinated travel, scheduling, scouting, assisted with recruiting and also coached the junior-varsity squad.
 
During his two seasons at Howard, the Hawks went a combined 49-12 while winning the Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) title and advancing to the Region V NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Tournament both years.
 
Davis also helped recruit a signing class at Howard that later went on to win the 2010 NJCAA National Championship. A native of Seminole, Texas, Davis earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from Texas in 2011.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the men's basketball program on Twitter (@UTAMavsMBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsMBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsMBB).