Last week Xavier High School filled its boys basketball coaching vacancy be hiring Ryan Luehrsmann. "Louie," as he was known by during his playing days at Washington High School and then the University of Iowa, takes over for Matt Jenkins who resigned after three years at the helm.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about "Coaching Trees", and specifically the Paul James tree which has taken root the past couple of years around town. Now it's time to take a look at another tree that has taken on some very strong roots, this time through a well-known and well-liked college coach.

Tom Davis coached at the University of Iowa from 1986-1999. He led the Hawkeyes to nine NCAA appearances, including within a game of the Final Four in 1987.

Great coaches are not only measured by their win-loss total and their success on the floor, but off the floor as well. And that is where Davis excelled even more. Davis was a great teacher of the game, and life off the court as well. Perhaps those are the reasons that his "Coaching Tree" is blooming. Let's take a look at the list of former Davis players that have moved on to the coaching ranks.

We talked earlier about Ryan Luerhsmann. The former Washington Warrior will be going against his alma mater now as coach at Xavier. Luerhsmann was the prototypical point guard throughout his career. He wasn't the flashiest on the court, but he always made his teammates better and had a sixth-sense of what needed to be done to enable his team to win. You could just imagine him as a coach someday. He was a silent leader, but a strong one, and I believe will take those same traits with him to the bench this winter.

Another Davis protege here in town is James Moses. James was a shooting guard for Davis and the Hawkeyes in the true sense of the phrase. James could light it up on any given night and, no matter the shooting percentage on that night, he could turn it on in a blink of an eye. He was electric, and that is his coaching style. Moses has done a terrific job in his first two seasons at Prairie and more good things appear to be on the way for the Hawks. Moses coaches with passion, the same passion he played with for Coach Davis.

The Tom Davis "Coaching Tree" extends beyond the Metro borders, in fact it stretches from the preps to the pros and all the way to the Rockies. Jeff Horner just completed his first year coaching at West Des Moines Valley. The former Hawkeye point guard led the Tigers to their first state tournament appearance in well over a decade. In the college ranks, one of the most loved Hawkeyes, Jess Settles, took over the reigns at Iowa Wesleyan this past season. And also, Ryan Bowen, after a short stint back with the Hawkeyes, is now on the coaching staff for the Denver Nuggets of the NBA.

Davis' own son, Keno, is back in the college coaching ranks at Central Michigan after a one-year hiatus working for the Big Ten Network. Keno succeeded his dad at Drake and had one of the most memorable and magical seasons in school history, directing the Bulldogs to a Missouri Valley Conference title and NCAA tournament berth. He left for Providence after that season, a move that did not work out well for him.

That's quite a list of talent. The list of former Tom Davis players now coaching is a good, but diverse one. It just shows that individuals can be good coaches with different traits and different backgrounds. All that is needed is a common denominator, a terrific mentor, and they each had that with Tom Davis. Good luck to all in the future.

(Scott Unash is the sports and program director at KGYM-AM 1600 (FM 106.3). He is a six-time winner of the Iowa Broadcast News Association play-by-play Announcer of the Year Award. Scott and Mark Dukes co-host the Gym Class weekdays from 3-4 p.m. on KGYM-AM 1600 and FM-106.3)