Doug Davalos took Sul Ross State to the 2004 Sweet 16, losing in overtime to Lawrence.

Texas State announced the hiring of Sul Ross State coach Doug Davalos as men's coach on Monday, April 3. 

Davalos is the first Division III head coach to jump directly to a Division I head-coaching job since Tony Shaver left Hampden-Sydney for William and Mary in June 2003. He's the fifth to make the jump in the past eight years.

"I was looking for a candidate that had Texas ties, university ties and preferably head-coaching experience," said Texas State athletic director Larry Teis. "That led me to my original contact with Doug Davalos 27 days ago. We interviewed five great coaches with a diverse background but my instincts led me back to my original criteria which Doug fit all of these."

Davalos, who was 72-35 in four years at Sul Ross State, takes over a team that went 3-24 this past season. Davalos' first Sul Ross State team (2002-03) posted the school's first winning season since 1979 and at the time, the best record in school history, going 19-6 overall and 12-2 in ASC play. Davalos was named the ASC West Division Coach of the Year. The following year, the Lobos were 21-9 and advanced to the Division III Sweet 16.

The Austin American-Statesman reported that Davalos beat out former Southern Vermont coach Ryan Marks, now at Division II St. Edward's, for the job.

Prior to being named the head coach at Sul Ross State, Davalos was an assistant for two years at Eastern New Mexico where he assisted in the rebuilding of the Division II program. Davalos was part of a staff which inherited a program that was 3-23, but in two years had improved to 15-12 and qualified for the Lone Star Conference Tournament for the first time in five years.