I knew it was going to be between Wes Miller and Hubert Davis. My pick was Wes Miller as he does have head coaching experience. Wes Miller had the support of some former players, but Roy’s backing of Hubert was the ultimate deciding factor. Truth be told I would have been happy with either one of them taking the reins. I also wasn’t in denial that we were going to be able to get Mark Few or Brad Stevens or Billy Donovan or Jay Wright. Even though I would have liked us to have at least called Mark Few and Scott Drew, I knew there was a small chance of us seriously looking outside of the Carolina basketball family. There was also a small chance these guys would have left what they built at their respective programs. College basketball is less and less about the blue blood programs. UNC, Duke, Kansas and Kentucky are no longer dominating college basketball. Guys want to build their own legacies at schools like Gonzaga, Villanova, Baylor, Virginia, etc. The basketball landscape is changing Tar Heel fans, but that is a topic of another day.
You have to love Carolina to coach Carolina. I fully believe that. Family means something different at Carolina. Look at anything former players have said about past coaches or teammates. It is a family in every sense of the word. Hubert Davis embodies this in every way.
Before I get more into Hubert Davis and his hiring, I wanted to explore what the Carolina family means to me. I am quite literally from a Carolina family. My parents graduated from UNC and were there for the ‘82 championship, my brother for the ‘09 title, and my twin sister and I were there to see the completion of the redemption tour. It runs deeper than that too. There are multiple people on both sides of the family that got their degree from Carolina. Carolina is a way of life. When I was a kid I used to cry when Carolina lost. In elementary school, my principal was a Duke fan and we used to decorate his office every time Carolina beat Duke. The room my sister and I shared was decked out in UNC memorabilia. I have every Daily Tar Heel, Sports Illustrated and shirt from all of Roy’s championships. My goal my entire childhood was to get into Carolina, and the day I found out I got in off of early admissions was one of the greatest days of my life. I grew up going to so many games, walking from Franklin Street to Kenan or the Smith Center or the Bosh. When you walk around that campus for 4 years and get your degree from there, it is a whole different relationship with the university. Carolina is home. The fight song means a little something extra when you have been in the student section during jump around and when you have rushed Franklin. It just does. When we rushed Franklin the night of the ‘17 title, my sister and I managed to find my brother among all those people. We have a picture together (all of us drunk as hell). I almost puked running to Franklin after drinking some Mike’s. I wasn’t quite 21 yet and mistakes were made. I have since upgraded my choice of alcohol since then but anyway… That is still the greatest night of my life. I’m not much of a religious person, but the fact that all 3 of us met up on Franklin was fate. Pretty sure it made my mom cry (happy tears of course). She still hasn’t watched that game btw. We told her she couldn’t watch it because she was bad luck, so thanks for taking one for the team momma willey. My dad also watched every game in our basement and let the dog in at halftime. Did it actually make a difference? Probably not, but why risk it?My parents are also damn proud that all of their kids went to UNC, and if you walk into my dad’s office it is nothing but UNC stuff. They have the carolina mom and carolina dad stickers on their vehicles. A carolina dad sticker is actually still on my vehicle because I got my dad’s old yota. After I graduated, my first big girl purchase was to upgrade to a bigger dirt bike. I have a Honda so it’s red but I made sure to make unc stand out on it as much as I could. The number plates are as close to Carolina blue as you can get, The NC logo is on both sides of the swingarm and the old well logo is prominently on the front fender. I have “class of 2018” on the back fender. There were only two things I made stand out on that bike: Carolina and my dad’s company. Anyone that knows how much dirt bikes means to me knows that is special. I also have a sticker on my snowboard that lists all the national championships.
Speaking of dirt bikes and decorations, btw this is the other twin. The other half of the “double team”. I quickly changed my bike to a teal color, the closest thing I could find to the baby blue. My rear fender lists all the years our basketball team has won the national championships and I can’t wait for the day where I have to order another one that includes yet another championship. “Born and Bred” with the NC outline and old well are on both my swing arms and a UNC license plate sits on the front of my 4runner. I recently got into PA school, unfortunately it’s in West Virginia. I have the banners of all of our championships and plan to proudly hang them in my apartment living room. People can claim they are “die hard” fans but you really do not get the full experience unless you were a student. I lived the Duke rivalry. I waited in line for hours for tickets and to get into the Dean Dome just for the chance to express my hatred in person. In 2018 when we beat Duke in the Smith Center, I ran from the Dean Dome to Franklin Street. My brother texted me to congratulate me, as if I had won the game. But he knew how wonderful beating Duke was and it was even sweeter because I was a senior.
I definitely appreciate Carolina’s excellence more so now that I am somewhat removed from it. Carolina stands for academic and athletic greatness. The University of Delaware is the pride of Delaware, and this isn’t a knock on UofD but they don’t come close to Carolina. They just can’t compete. Carolina in itself is a brand, and going there puts you in a unique group of people. You have an enhanced love and appreciation for the University because of this.
And this is exactly why Hubert Davis is the man for the job. Hubert played for Dean Smith and Roy Williams and got his degree from Carolina. He met his wife at Carolina and is a devoted husband and father. He played 12 seasons in the NBA and is one of the best 3 point shooters in Carolina and NBA history. His uncle is Walter Davis for crying out loud. When a spot opened up on Roy’s staff in 2012 he called Hubert Davis. He was hand picked by Roy to be the next coach and I trust the decision until it is proven otherwise. Hopefully it isn’t. His scouting reports are precise and he took his Kentucky scouting assignment in 2017 personally. Monk lit the Tar Heels up in their first matchup. Davis made sure that didn’t happen again. All the players love him and he brings in treats for players on their birthdays. Again look at any of the former players posts congratulating him on the job, they all know he deserves it. Read Adam Lucas’ Tar Heel for Life article if you haven’t, it’s great. And just listen to the way he talks about Carolina, Hubert Davis LOVES this university. You need to love Carolina to coach Carolina. I don’t think you will find a better guy to lead this program going forward. If he is surrounded by a good coaching staff, I think he will be fine. Dunn and Stylez have already said they are staying committed which is a testament to what they think of coach Davis and his recruiting efforts. Recruiting shouldn’t really fall off considering Davis was heavily involved with that under Roy. Roy still has an office in the Smith Center and I bet he mentors Davis from a distance (somewhat). In Davis’ first big move, he has reached back out to Walker Kessler. This guy is ready to go. It should be a fairly easy transition considering the current and incoming guys are all familiar with him. I see things continuing on as usual with Davis at the helm. He is younger and can relate better to the players. He brings a renewed sense of energy to the program (at least for me). He has his work cut out of him, and it won’t be easy. But this man loves Carolina and everything it stands for. He will continue the traditions that have made this program so great for so long.
Davis talks about Roy how Roy talked about Dean and if you listen to the way Roy talks about Hubert he knows he is special. On Tuesday, Davis took a walk to the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery to sit by Dean Smith’s headstone.
"I just wanted to spend time with him at his gravesite," Davis said on Tuesday, the day he was introduced as the next head coach at the University of North Carolina. "I just wanted to listen to him, talk to him, and tell him thank you for believing in me and giving me a chance and an opportunity. I wanted to thank him for the example he set for me. There is nothing I do in my life that isn't filtered through, 'What would Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge do?' And I would love to give them a hug today."
You can’t get that from anyone outside the Carolina family. He still hasn’t cashed that $200 check from Coach Smith. It is hanging up in a frame on his wall. He can’t bring himself to cash it. You can’t question Hubert Davis’ character, you just can’t. This is the guy you want your son to play for. Hubert knows Carolina basketball is bigger than basketball. It’s about leadership and turning these guys into men. It is about making them into better men than when they arrived on campus. It is about teaching them life lessons they can hold on to after basketball.
“In terms of the staff, you can't do this job unless you're a Carolina guy. It's impossible. You can't coach here, you can't recruit here, you can't work here unless you have been here, you've experienced it, you have lived it. And so in terms of the staff, it's all guys that have experienced this place and believe it and have the passion and the desire that all of us have for this university and this program and these kids in this community. One of the things that I desperately want to do in terms of a staff is I want to connect the generations. I want to have guys on staff that played for Coach Smith, I want to have guys on staff that played for Coach Guthridge, and I want to have guys on staff that played with Coach Williams. I want to be able to connect all those because I think bringing all those coaches together is what makes Carolina, Carolina. And so in assembling a staff, that is the number one thing that I'm thinking about. You've got to be a Carolina guy. And I want an example from every one of the coaches that have meant so much to me, but has also meant so much to this program.”
Like I said Hubert Davis just gets it. Or maybe I am just trying to convince myself of what I’m typing. But seriously it truly is a different relationship when you go to Carolina. It provides you a deeper understanding of just how much tradition and excellence exists there. Carolina is a legacy thing for me. It is a generation to generation thing. I am excited to have Hubert Davis lead our program. Congrats Hubert and good luck!
Also I have mentioned numerous times that I love reading Adam Lucas’ articles on Goheels so I provided the links to his articles on Hubert Davis as well as several others.
https://goheels.com/news/2021/4/6/mens-basketball-roy-williams-statement-on-hubert-davis-hiring.aspx
Commenti