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Travis Mays

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Travis Mays
Personal information
Born (1968-06-19) June 19, 1968 (age 56)
Ocala, Florida, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High schoolVanguard (Ocala, Florida)
CollegeTexas (1986–1990)
NBA draft1990: 1st round, 14th overall pick
Selected by the Sacramento Kings
Playing career1990–2002
PositionShooting guard
Number1
Coaching career2002–present
Career history
As player:
1990–1991Sacramento Kings
1991–1993Atlanta Hawks
1993Rochester Renegade
1994–1995Panionios
1995–1996Ironi Ramat Gan
1996–1997Tuborg Pilsener
1998–1999Mabo Pistoia
1999–2002Mens Sana 1871 Basket
As coach:
2002–2003San Antonio Silver Stars (assistant)
2004–2007Texas (assistant)
2007–2011LSU (assistant)
2011–2012Georgia (assistant)
2012–2016Texas (associate HC)
2016–2021SMU
Career highlights and awards
As player:
Career NBA statistics
Points1,273 (11.1 ppg)
Rebounds233 (2.0 rpg)
Assists326 (2.8 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  United States
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1989 Duisburg National team

Travis Cortez Mays (born June 19, 1968) is an American women's basketball coach and former professional player who was the women's head coach for Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2016 until 2021.[1][2] Mays was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the first round (14th overall pick) of the 1990 NBA draft. Born in Ocala, Florida, he played basketball for Vanguard High School before enrolling at the University of Texas to compete for the Longhorns. After his time in the NBA, Mays played professional basketball in several leagues in Europe.[3]

Amateur career

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Mays went to Vanguard High School where he was a scholastic All-America standout, and he then proceeded to play basketball for the University of Texas. Mays and teammates Lance Blanks and Joey Wright were known as the "BMW – The Ultimate Scoring Machine" during the 1989–90 basketball season.[4] That Longhorn team advanced to the Elite Eight in the 1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

Mays ranks second in UT men's basketball all-time scoring (2,279 points) and also is second in Southwest Conference all-time scoring.[3] He was the first player to earn back-to-back SWC Player of the Year honors.[3] Mays' career scoring average was 18.4 points per game.[5] He scored in double-figures in 100 of 124 career games[6] and was the only UT men's player in history to score more than 700 points in a season at the end of his Longhorn career, having scored 743 points as a junior and 772 as a senior.[7] His single-season scoring record has subsequently been broken by Kevin Durant. In the 1989–90 season that ended in the Elite Eight, Mays had a scoring average of 24.1 points per game as a senior.[5] In 2002, he was inducted into the UT Men's Athletics Hall of Honor.[6]

Professional career

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Mays was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the 14th pick of the 1990 NBA draft.[8] During his rookie campaign for the Kings, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, averaging 14.3 points per game in 64 games.[9][10] He spent the next two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, where two games into his second season, he ruptured both tendons in his right ankle and was out for the remainder of the season. He returned for his final NBA season the next year. Mays had an NBA career scoring average of 11.1 points per game.[10]

Mays' professional career extended to European and international basketball, as he played in Greece, Israel, Turkey, and Italy. In 1994 Mays signed with Greek club Panionios BC, where he would spend the entire season.[11] In the Greek League, Mays averaged 23.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.[11] Highlights of his European career include his selection to the European All-Star Game, leading Panionios to the European Championship final eight with 27.5 points per game, and a First Team All-Star selection (1999–2001) on Italy's Siena squad. He retired as a player in 2002.

NBA career statistics

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1990–91 Sacramento 64 55 33.5 .406 .365 .770 2.8 4.0 1.3 .2 14.3
1991–92 Atlanta 2 0 16.0 .429 .500 1.000 1.0 .5 .0 .0 8.5
1992–93 Atlanta 49 9 16.1 .417 .345 .659 1.1 1.5 .4 .1 7.0
Career 115 64 25.8 .410 .362 .749 2.0 2.8 .9 .1 11.1

Coaching career

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Mays spent the 2002–04 seasons coaching and scouting as an assistant coach for the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars franchise.[3] He also coached AAU boys' basketball for the Tennessee/Alabama "Pump" team in the summer of 2003. From 2004 to 2007, he returned to his alma mater and served as an assistant coach under Jody Conradt for the Texas Longhorns women's basketball team. Mays' primary duties were working with UT's guard play and recruiting. He was instrumental in signing, among others, Erika Arriaran, Crystal Boyd, Earnesia Williams, and Brittainey Raven.

After Conradt retired, Mays worked in the same capacity with the Louisiana State University women's team from 2007 to 2011.[3] He then spent one year as an assistant coach for the University of Georgia women's basketball team. From 2012 to 2016, he returned again to UT as the associate head coach under new head coach Karen Aston.[3] In 2016, he became the head coach at SMU.[1][12] He was let go on March 8, 2021 after 5 seasons at SMU.[2]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
SMU Mustangs (American Athletic Conference) (2016–2021)
2016–17 SMU 19–15 7–9 T5th WNIT Third Round
2017–18 SMU 10–20 4–12 10th
2018–19 SMU 11–19 5–11 T-8th
2019–20 SMU 13–16 7–9 T-6th
2020–21 SMU 0–6 [a 1] 0–2 11th
SMU: 53–76 (.411) 23–43 (.348)
Total: 53–76 (.411)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Career achievements

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As a player

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  • Southwest Conference Player of the Year (1989, 1990)
  • Three-year All-Southwest Conference (1987–1990)
  • UT Men's Athletics Hall of Honor (2002)
  • European All-Star (1994, 1995)
  • First Team All-Star (Italy) 1999–2001

Personal

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Mays earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from UT in 1990.[9] He received Italian citizenship through his wife Mirella, herself of Italian ancestry.[13]

Notes

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  1. ^ SMU cancelled their season on December 29, 2020 due to concerns over the COVID-19 Pandemic.

References

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  1. ^ a b "SMU hires Travis Mays". Swish Appeal. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Blum, Sam (March 8, 2021). "SMU announces women's basketball coach Travis Mays will not return". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "2013–14 UT women's basketball coaching staff – Travis Mays bio". TexasSports.com. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  4. ^ "Guards Put Longhorns in High Gear". LA Times. March 24, 1990. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "2014–15 Texas Basketball Fact Book" (PDF). texassports.com. p. 114. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Men's Hall of Honor – Travis Mays". texassports.com – UT Athletics official website. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  7. ^ 2014–15 Texas Basketball Fact Book, p. 128
  8. ^ "1990 NBA draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Travis Mays – Horns' 'home run hire' – has hit the recruiting trail running". Statesman.com. May 13, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Travis Mays NBA Stats". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Ο Τράβις Μέις στη "Μηχανή του χρόνου"" (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. April 3, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  12. ^ "Report: SMU players cite abusive culture set by women's coach Travis Mays during 2017-18 season". ESPN. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  13. ^ "Mays, l' ultimo italiano, per ora parla coi punti" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. September 16, 1999. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
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