At one point early in his life, Davey Whitney dreamed of playing major league baseball.

That ended a couple of years later, and he followed his other sports passion to become a basketball coach. It was a career move that made him a legend at Alcorn State, and a College Basketball Hall of Famer.

On Sunday, the legend passed into history.

Whitney, who won 12 Southwestern Athletic Conference championships and nearly 500 games in 27 seasons at Alcorn, died Sunday at his home in Biloxi. He was 85.

Alcorn State confirmed Whitney’s death in a release. No cause of death was given. Whitney had lived the last decade in Biloxi after retiring as the Braves’ basketball coach for the second time.

Whitney is survived by his wife of 62 years, Bernice; five children: Gail, Libby, Lisa, Doreen and Davey, Jr.; and four grandchildren: Ashantee, Aubrei, Corey and Duonne.

“He’s one of the greatest basketball coaches I’ve ever been around. He definitely was a great man, a family man, just an outstanding guy, He was a father figure to us,” said Vicksburg High boys basketball coach Dellie C. Robinson, who played for Whitney at Alcorn from 1972-76.

Whitney was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1930 and graduated from Kentucky State University in 1952. He played shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs and made the Negro Leagues all-star game in 1954.

“I had great times with the Monarchs,” Whitney said in an interview with the Biloxi Sun-Herald in January. “Playing baseball helped me settle down and become a good coach. In baseball, you get a lot of streaks. You can win nine straight games or you can lose nine straight.”

Whitney spent two years in the army. He returned to the Monarchs after leaving the service in 1956, but quit the team soon after over a contract dispute.

His next stop was Clarksville, Tennessee, where he coached high school basketball and won 270 games in nine seasons.

He was hired by Texas Southern in 1964, and moved on to Alcorn State in 1969.

It was in Lorman that Whitney truly forged a name for himself.

He led Alcorn to six SWAC championships in a 10-year span from 1973-82. In 1980 the Braves beat South Alabama for the first NCAA tournament win ever by an historically black college.

Alcorn also played in the NIT in 1979 and ‘85. It beat Mississippi State in the first round of the 1979 NIT, then lost 72-68 to eventual champion Indiana.

Whitney was named the SWAC Coach of the Year 10 times. Robinson, who was part of two conference championship teams with Whitney, said the coach’s success was rooted in a no-nonsense, honest approach.

“He said what he means and means what he said,” Robinson said. “He was always in control of the situation, and we always found a way to win.”

Whitney retired in 1989 after going 18-67 over a three-year span, but came back to coach Alcorn for seven more seasons from 1996-2003. He added three more SWAC championships to his resumé during his second tenure.

The 1999 Alcorn team went 23-7 and earned a No. 15 seed to the NCAA Tournament. It rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to tie No. 2 seed Stanford 53-53 with 5 minutes remaining, but faded late and lost 69-57.

Whitney led Alcorn to the regular-season SWAC championship in 2000, but it lost in the conference tournament. It won the SWAC tournament in 2002, then fell to Siena in the play-in round of the NCAA Tournament.

Whitney retired for good in 2003, and the rest of the sports world began recognizing the greatness of the man known as “The Wiz.”

Whitney was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame during his first retirement in 1991, and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

Whitney is also a member of halls of fame at Kentucky State, the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Alcorn.

He led Alcorn to a 487-280 record in his two stints there, and finished with a career record of 542-334.

In 19 seasons during Whitney’s two retirements, Alcorn has posted a 151-387 record and just one winning season.

Alcorn’s 7,000-seat multi-purpose facility, which houses the basketball arena and athletic offices, was named after Whitney.

“When you say ‘Alcorn basketball,’” Robinson said, “Only one name comes up. And that’s Dave Whitney.”