Early men?s basketball at Davidson was almost entirely student run. Before intercollegiate basketball became popular, most games occurred between students with the seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen fielding teams and competing for a school championship. When intercollegiate play began in 1908, James Wendell Rhea was both the team?s first coach and also a student at Davidson. His first team had six students: Hyder Barr, James McClintock, John Fairly, Walter Pharr, John Turner, and Benjamin James Cromartie. In the 1960s, under coach Lefty Driesell, the men's basketball team gained national attention and during the period 1963-1970 was often ranked in the top 20. In the 1970s, with the advent of coeducation, a women's team was formed. The women's team played from 1973 to 1986, was dropped from the athletic program in 1986, and returned in 1992.