Davis’ experience, patient approach paying off as UNC heads into Sweet 16

 

Hubert Davis has guided North Carolina to timely surge entering Sweet 16 matchup with UCLA. (Photo by CBS Sports)

PHILADELPHIA — When Hubert Davis moved over one chair on the bench of his alma mater following the retirement of Roy Williams last April, the promotion was met with criticism as North Carolina replaced a Hall of Fame coach with three national championships on his resume with a longtime assistant who lacked experience as captain of the ship.

The Tar Heels struggled through the regular season, standing on the bubble as late as February before a resurgent finish to the year that included a drubbing of Duke in Mike Krzyzewski’s grand finale at Cameron Indoor Stadium. But as UNC refocused, and proved its mettle with a dominating win over Marquette to open the NCAA Tournament, followed by a resilient overtime victory over Baylor after the reigning national champions erased a 25-point lead, Davis’ steady hand and patient approach has affirmed he was the right man at the right time in Chapel Hill.

“We’re not doing anything different,” Davis assessed as UNC returns to Philadelphia — where it cut down the East Regional nets in 2016 en route to the national championship game — to meet UCLA in Friday’s regional semifinal. “We’ve identified the three things that make us successful, and that’s playing good defense, rebounding the basketball, and also taking care of the basketball. You want to call it buying in, but I think they’re experiencing the success of us doing a better job on the defensive end, and it’s obviously made us a better basketball team.”

“We all bought into the defensive mentality,” sophomore guard RJ Davis confirmed. “Leaky (Black) was able to go there and lock down the best defender, and then we tie into that. I feel like we feed off his energy and what he brings to the table.”

Black, cast in a role similar to Theo Pinson’s stature as the defensive stopper on the wing as the Heels reached back-to-back title games, prevailing in 2017, has been the leader on this UNC squad based solely on his past familiarity with this stage, but for Davis, the benefit of getting to see his entire team evolve has been his greatest — and perhaps most cherished — takeaway.

“To see not just the determination, the fight, the will and the want to, but also the excitement and enjoyment of being in a stage that they’ve never experienced before brings joy to me,” he said. “Every day, I get a front-row seat to be able to experience things with each one of these players, and to see how happy and excited and motivated they are to be in this position is something that I’ve really enjoyed.”

“For me, this is not a job. This is missionary work. It really is. It’s put me in a position where I can help and serve, coach and teach, and give back to these kids everything that Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge gave to me the four years that I was there, and also give back to the kids everything that Coach Williams gave to his players for 18 years. To be in that position is very humbling. I’m very thankful and appreciative, and it’s a great place to be.”

Davis’ own paradigm shift from Williams’ top lieutenant to calling the shots came under fire, but his experience around the program embodies the family atmosphere of UNC better than any other candidate to take the reins, something athletic director Bubba Cunningham valued heavily in the transition process. More importantly, the continuity — coupled with Davis’ past career as a player, which included trips to both the Final Four and NBA Finals — has yielded a payoff at the most opportune of times for a Tar Heel outfit hitting its best stride in an atmosphere that has been a longtime boon for the program.

“It’s important to have people around you that have experience and have been where you want to be,” he said. “Everybody on our coaching staff went to Carolina, played at Carolina, and with the exception of one of our assistant coaches, every one of our wives went to Carolina. It’s been tried, tested, proven successful. When we’re talking to the guys, they can look at us and say, ‘You know what? You’ve been there before.’ So I think it’s a huge factor.”

“He’s been in big moments,” Davis reiterated. “We like to pick his brain a lot and just learn from him because he’s been in our position and he knows what we want to accomplish. Just being able to pick up what he teaches us is a great thing to have.”

One of Davis’ main objectives this season, coming off a disappointing 14-19 campaign two years ago before bowing out in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last March against Wisconsin, was to make sure his players got to enjoy and appreciate the full UNC experience for all it is worth. And while that goal is largely achieved, more work remains incomplete before the Heels’ rookie coach can marvel at the first team he can call his own being able to reach the same heights he enjoyed three decades ago.

“Overall, this season has been a success where we’re at,” said Armando Bacot. “And just these last few weeks winning these big games, it just seems alive again and getting back to where it was before my freshman year. It’s been a great experience and it’s been good for us all just to be a part of it.”

“If anybody asked me from a player’s perspective, for me personally, the greatest experience I ever had as a player, I would tell them it’s when I got to go to the Final Four in 1991,” Davis said. “I played 12 years in the NBA, and my number-one greatest experience personally as a player was to play in the Final Four. I said, ‘guys, I desperately want you to have that experience. I want you to get to the Final Four, I want you to get to the final game.”

But again, just getting there is only part of what the man trusted to lead his alma mater wants for the young men who place their trust in him. As Marcus Paige said in 2016, UNC did not come this far just to come this far.

“I definitely do feel like they have their own stories, their own testimonies, their own memories of being in big-time moments and coming up big in big-time games,” said Davis. “But I don’t want it to stop there. I want them to have more.”