Georgia State University Athletics

Lars Davis concluded his second season at Georgia State after joining the staff as an assistant coach in August 2021. Prior to coming to Georgia State, he served as an assistant coach at Florida for seven years.
 
During Davis’ second season on staff, the program set a school record for the number of Sun Belt conference wins, as well as eclipsing the 30-win mark in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2010-2011 seasons. Guided by Davis’ hitting instruction, the Panthers offense hit 110 home runs in 2023, which ranked 9^th in the NCAA, as well as racking up 614 hits, ranking 22^nd in the country.
 
For the past two seasons, Davis has also had a large impact on the recruiting at Georgia State. In Davis’ first season, he helped recruit the highest ranked incoming class in Georgia State history (37^th – Perfect Game). Davis was also instrumental in helping bring in the 2023 class which was ranked top-10 for junior college players and top-50 for transfer portal players by Perfect Game.

Davis, a former minor league player who reached the Triple-A level, made an immediate impact in 2022 during his first season on head coach Brad Stromdahl's staff, helping lead the Panthers to their first 30-win season since 2015. He helped coach a GSU offense that hit 75 home runs, the third-highest total in program history, led by All-American Max Ryerson, who led the Sun Belt Conference with a school-record 22 homers, and Major League Baseball ninth-round draft pick Griffin Cheney, who added 16 home runs.

Davis served as an assistant coach during Florida's remarkable run of success, highlighted by four straight trips to the College World Series (2015-18) and the 2017 national championship. During his time on coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s staff from 2014-21, Davis helped the Gators win over 70 percent of their games while averaging more than 46 wins for his six full seasons (not including the abbreviated 2020 season), including three straight 52-wins seasons.
 
Davis was part of a Florida staff that developed 49 players into Major League Baseball Draft picks during his seven years, including eight first-round selections and 20 players taken in the first three rounds. Eighteen of those players have already reached the Majors. The Florida program also produced more than 20 All-Americans during Davis’ tenure.
 
Georgia State head coach Brad Stromdahl says, “Lars Davis is a tremendous addition to our coaching staff and our program."
  
A standout catcher and hitter at Illinois, Davis earned All-America honors as a junior in 2007, when he was named Big Ten Player of the Year while hitting .400.
 
He was selected in the third-round of the 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Colorado Rockies. That launched an eight-year pro career through 2014 with the Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies organizations, including two seasons in which he reached the Triple-A level. Davis earned all-star honors in Double-A.
 
The Grande Prairie, Alberta, native earned his bachelor’s degree in earth, society and environment studies from Illinois in 2015. Davis and his wife, Katie, have a daughter Stella.
 
 
 
 
The Lars Davis File
Birthdate: November 7, 1985
Hometown: Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada
High School: Grande Prairie Composite High School (Grande Prairie, AB)
Education: 2003-2005 - General Studies - Lethbridge Community College
2005-2007, 2015 - Bachelor of Science - Environmental Sciences - University of Illinois
 
Coaching Career
Assistant Coach – Georgia State University – 2021-Present
Volunteer Assistant Coach – University of Florida – 2014-2021
 
Collegiate Playing Career
University of Illinois – 2005-2007
Prairie Baseball Academy – 2003-2005
 
Professional Playing Career
Colorado Rockies Organization (Drafted 3^rd Round, 2007)

• Tri-Cities Dust Devils (Short Season A, Northwest League) 2007
• Asheville Tourists (Low A, South Atlantic League) 2008
• Modesto Nuts (High A, California League) 2009
• Tulsa Drillers (Double A, Texas League) 2010-2012
• Colorado Springs Sky Sox (Triple A, Pacific Coast League) 2013

 
Arizona Diamondbacks Organization

• Mobile Bay Bears (Double A, Southern League) 2014

 
Philadelphia Phillies Organization

• Reading Fighting Phils (Double A, Eastern League) 2014
• Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Triple A, International League) 2014