Softball
Davenport, Mike
Mike Davenport
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- mdavenport@sports.uga.edu
- Phone:
- 706-713-2832
Mike Davenport joined Tony Baldwin's staff as an assistant coach in August 2024. Davenport comes to Athens from North Georgia, where he was the head coach for 24 seasons. He guided the Nighthawks to DII national championships in 2015 and 2023, accumulating over a thousand victories in his tenure at UNG.
His head coaching record is an astounding 1,094-280 (.796), and he is a member of the Georgia Dugout Club Softball Hall of Fame (January 2020). He’s coached numerous All-Americans, including two National Players of the Year in Courtney Poole (2015) and Kylee Smith (2018).
A 10-time Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year, Davenport built a culture of championships at North Georgia, winning 17 conference regular season titles, 15 conference tournaments, nine NCAA Southeast Region Championships, and two NCAA DII National Championships. He established UNG as a powerhouse in NCAA Division II softball, taking North Georgia to three consecutive Division II Championship appearances twice from 2009-11 and again in 2021-23.
Davenport helped guide the program to two National Championships during his tenure, the first in 2015, as that team would bring the University of North Georgia its first National Championship in school history on May 25, 2015, in Oklahoma City. In 2023, Davenport helped return UNG to the mountain top, giving the program its second 60-win season, breaking the program record for wins in a season with a 64-7 record, as the Nighthawks would win their second National Title in Chattanooga, Tennessee on May 31, 2023.
After winning the 2015 national championship in Oklahoma City, Davenport returned to the diamond almost immediately, serving as the head coach of the USSSA Florida Pride of the National Pro Fastpitch league. He led the Pride to an NPF regular-season title and an appearance in the Cowles Cup series.
In 2010, Davenport led North Georgia to a 51-game winning streak, the second longest in NCAA history. The then-Saints entered the World Series with a perfect record of 50-0 that season. UNG has reached perfection in conference play twice under Davenport's guidance, posting 20-0 records in 2003 and 2010.
Davenport began his career at North Georgia with the women’s basketball team in 1996 as an assistant coach and served in that role until 2000, when he took over as head softball coach in August. He served in that role as well as an instructor in the Health and Physical Education Department since. While with the North Georgia women’s basketball team, he helped guide the squad to three conference titles and three NAIA National Tournament appearances.
While growing up in central Illinois, he played basketball and baseball at Peoria’s Richwoods High School before moving to Central Oklahoma and graduating from Guthrie High School in Guthrie, Oklahoma. After playing one year of junior college baseball, he focused his attention on coaching and joined the rich tradition of Cowboy Baseball at Oklahoma State University under head coach Gary Ward as a student-assistant. The opportunity to coach led him to Gainesville, Florida, where he spent three years as an assistant baseball coach at Santa Fe Community College under head coach Harry Tholen.
The DuQuoin, Illinois native is a 1994 graduate of the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Recreation and a 1998 grad of North Georgia, where he earned his Master of Education.
Davenport and his wife, the former Melanie Ralston of Gainesville, reside in Dahlonega and are the proud parents of one daughter, Isabel, and one son, Harper.
His head coaching record is an astounding 1,094-280 (.796), and he is a member of the Georgia Dugout Club Softball Hall of Fame (January 2020). He’s coached numerous All-Americans, including two National Players of the Year in Courtney Poole (2015) and Kylee Smith (2018).
A 10-time Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year, Davenport built a culture of championships at North Georgia, winning 17 conference regular season titles, 15 conference tournaments, nine NCAA Southeast Region Championships, and two NCAA DII National Championships. He established UNG as a powerhouse in NCAA Division II softball, taking North Georgia to three consecutive Division II Championship appearances twice from 2009-11 and again in 2021-23.
Davenport helped guide the program to two National Championships during his tenure, the first in 2015, as that team would bring the University of North Georgia its first National Championship in school history on May 25, 2015, in Oklahoma City. In 2023, Davenport helped return UNG to the mountain top, giving the program its second 60-win season, breaking the program record for wins in a season with a 64-7 record, as the Nighthawks would win their second National Title in Chattanooga, Tennessee on May 31, 2023.
After winning the 2015 national championship in Oklahoma City, Davenport returned to the diamond almost immediately, serving as the head coach of the USSSA Florida Pride of the National Pro Fastpitch league. He led the Pride to an NPF regular-season title and an appearance in the Cowles Cup series.
In 2010, Davenport led North Georgia to a 51-game winning streak, the second longest in NCAA history. The then-Saints entered the World Series with a perfect record of 50-0 that season. UNG has reached perfection in conference play twice under Davenport's guidance, posting 20-0 records in 2003 and 2010.
Davenport began his career at North Georgia with the women’s basketball team in 1996 as an assistant coach and served in that role until 2000, when he took over as head softball coach in August. He served in that role as well as an instructor in the Health and Physical Education Department since. While with the North Georgia women’s basketball team, he helped guide the squad to three conference titles and three NAIA National Tournament appearances.
While growing up in central Illinois, he played basketball and baseball at Peoria’s Richwoods High School before moving to Central Oklahoma and graduating from Guthrie High School in Guthrie, Oklahoma. After playing one year of junior college baseball, he focused his attention on coaching and joined the rich tradition of Cowboy Baseball at Oklahoma State University under head coach Gary Ward as a student-assistant. The opportunity to coach led him to Gainesville, Florida, where he spent three years as an assistant baseball coach at Santa Fe Community College under head coach Harry Tholen.
The DuQuoin, Illinois native is a 1994 graduate of the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Recreation and a 1998 grad of North Georgia, where he earned his Master of Education.
Davenport and his wife, the former Melanie Ralston of Gainesville, reside in Dahlonega and are the proud parents of one daughter, Isabel, and one son, Harper.
Georgia Softball vs Florida NCAA Super Regional Game 3 Postgame Press Conference
Monday, May 26
Georgia Softball vs Florida NCAA Super Regional Game 2 Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, May 24
Georgia Softball vs Florida NCAA Super Regional Game 2 TV Highlights
Saturday, May 24
Georgia Softball vs Florida NCAA Super Regional Postgame Press Conference
Friday, May 23
