Former DeltaState head women's basketball coach David Midlick has been hired by women's basketball head coach Melissa McFerrin as the Tigers' new associate head coach it was announced, Monday. Midlick replaces Amy Stephens, who returned to her alma mater at Nebraska as an assistant coach.
"As a native Memphian, David has a very fond awareness of the Tigers and the University of Memphis," McFerrin said. "He is known as a basketball coach with very strong player development skills and this past year, Delta State had the number one ranked defense in the nation. Those two things were important qualities for this hire."
Midlick has spent the past two seasons leading the Delta State women's basketball team to back-to-back 20-win seasons, back-to-back NCAA berths and an NCAA Sweet 16 finish in 2012-13. Midlick's team led NCAA Division II in defense, holding opponents to 53.3 points per game and to just 33.5 percent shooting from the field. His defense also ranked seventh in the country in three-point field goal defense, giving up just 25.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
"I'm excited to be up there with coach McFerrin, the rest of the staff and the ladies. I really believe in (McFerrin's) vision for the program, the goals they have, and I can't wait to get started," Midlick said. "I felt great about this opportunity from the moment I started talking with coach McFerrin, both about players coming back and the players that were recruited. In talking with Erin (Grant), Jess (Bogia) and Ben (Kantor) and the rest of the staff, I'm just really looking forward to helping them."
Sporting a 44-16 mark at Delta State, Midlick will be returning home to Memphis, where he graduated from Christian Brothers High School in 1987 before playing college basketball for Ole Miss. He helped CBHS to a state championship in 1987.
Midlick played in 80 games for the Rebels, with 33 starts, at guard. In his three-year career, he averaged 5.8 ppg while leading the team in free-throw percentage and three-point field goal percentage. In 1989, he helped the Rebels to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) and the following season, helped Ole Miss to a Southeastern Conference Tournament final. A three-time all-academic selection, Midlick was the 1991 SEC Male Scholar-Athlete and a finalist for SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
After graduating from Ole Miss in 1991 with a degree in biological science, Midlick received a bachelor's degree in physical therapy from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1994.
After working as a physical therapist in Greenville, Miss., Midlick entered the world of coaching at Washington High School, where he served two stints as the boys basketball coach (1994-97, 1999-2003), also serving as the girls varsity coach from 1999-2002. At Washington, he took a boys' program that had won just six games in two years to a 90-77 mark over six seasons. He also guided the girls' varsity team to an 18-16 record, their first winning season since 1991. In 1996, he was named the Mississippi Independent Association of Schools North AAA Coach of the Year in 1996 and MAIS District I-AAA Coach of the Year in 1999.
In between stints with Washington HS, Midlick also coached the varsity boys and girls teams at Indianola Academy in Indianola, Miss.
In 2003, Midlick broke in to college coaching under former Memphis player and M Club Hall of Fame member Dave Loos, joining Loos' staff at Austin Peay State. He worked with the Governors from 2003-2006, working on scouting and video prep, while assisting in recruiting and player evaluations. The Governors won an OVC regular season title in 2003-04, qualifying for the NIT, then finished second in 2005.
After coaching on the men's side at Austin Peay, Midlick moved to Tennessee State University in 2006, serving as an assistant coach for the women's team. At TSU, he helped engineer a turnaround for the program, helping TSU go from winless to Ohio Valley contenders. As the program's recruiting coordinator, and while coaching the posts, Midlick helped Obiageli Okafor to 2010 first team all-conference honors and helped Jasmine Smith to the OVC All-Newcomer team in 2009.
He left Tennessee State to join Carrie Daniels' staff at Austin Peay State in 2010-11, spending two seasons there. At APSU, Midlick was in charge of the post players, while also assisting with recruiting, academic tracking, scheduling, compliance and game planning. He also helped sign two nationally-ranked players to APSU's 2011 class.
Midlick was tapped for the Delta State head coaching spot on July 9, 2012. In his first season, he led the Lady Statesmen to a 21-10 overall record and an NCAA Sweet 16 finish. He guided Delta State to a Gulf South Conference (GSC) regular season title, finishing with 21 wins, the most-ever for a first-year coach at Delta State. Two Lady Statesmen earned all-conference honors under Midlick, as Rhandi Ball was named first team and Seneca Walton earned second team honors. Guard Chelsey Rhodes was named the GSC Freshman of the Year and set a freshman record for three-point field goals made with 45.
Last year, Midlick guided DSU to a 24-6 overall record and a second GSC regular season title. Rhodes and Walton both received WBCA Division II Coaches' All-America Team honors and Walton was named both the Gulf South Conference and All-Region Player of the Year.
Midlick is married to the former Leslie Biddle of Greenville, Miss., who is also a physical therapist. They have two sons, David Jr. and Will.
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