Hubert Davis is leaning on UNC basketball’s past while navigating its future
At least once a week, Hubert Davis makes the trek through the University of North Carolina’s campus and stops at the same spot on South Road in old Chapel Hill cemetery. He can see the entrance of Carmichael Arena, the former home of Tar Heels men’s basketball, across the street from his view.
The trips are a bit cathartic for Davis in his first year as Carolina’s head coach as he visits the final resting place of legendary coach Dean Smith. Davis walks to the intersection with Country Club Road to Memorial Grove, which is adjacent to the cemetery, to find former coach Bill Guthridge’s name on a plaque of those interred.
“I go visit that all the time, it’s very important for me to go visit,” Davis said. “And not just to visit, I love having conversations with coach Smith and coach Guthridge and just let them know how I’m feeling, how much I love them, what they’ve done for me. It just makes me feel like I’m spending time with them.”
Davis discussed that and other topics in a wide-ranging interview with The News & Observer.
The words “Faith, Hope, Love” are etched into the headstone along with the location of the Bible verse it references, I Corinthians 13:13. Davis has relied on all three during his first year on the job where the highs from wins to feel good about have been met with lows from some inexplicable performances in losses.
Carolina is shaping up to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble, which makes Davis’ first season very different than the past three coaches at Carolina.
Guthridge took the Heels back to the Final Four in 1998 and finished No. 1 in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll. Matt Doherty’s first season in 2000-01, he rode an 18-game win streak to claiming the No. 1 ranking for two weeks and his team finished No. 6 in the final poll. Roy Williams ranked as high as No. 7 in his first season at UNC in 2003-04, before finishing at No. 18, with the core group he’d guide to become the 2005 national champions.
Roy Williams can relate
There aren’t many who can relate to what Davis is going through. But one of the persons who can, sits on the side of the tunnel at every Carolina home game, visits practices and still maintains an office at the Dean E. Smith Center.
Roy Williams has successfully transitioned from being beloved coach to the Heels’ most visible fan. Davis hasn’t shied away from consulting with Williams during the course of the season, just not in the way that he’s asking coaching-related questions.
“I lean on our friendship, that’s the most important thing for me,” Davis said. “It’s not a business relationship, it’s a friendship. And so I lean on him every day as a mentor, as a friend, as a person that has been a part of my life since I was 17-years-old.”
Doherty said that’s an advantage for Davis that he didn’t quite have. Smith and Guthridge were still around the program and had their offices in the building, but Doherty said that dynamic was still that of player-coach for him.
“As a player, if you were asked to meet him in his office, it’s like being called to the principal’s office, it’s intimidating,” Doherty said. “It was probably my insecurity of, ‘How do I approach Coach Smith?’ Like, I would talk basketball with him, he would watch practice, but I didn’t bother him. Like, I didn’t call him as much as I probably should have or as much as he wanted.”
Doherty said since Davis was an assistant for nine years, he was used to making suggestions and talking to Williams as more of a peer.
“It’s great if you have a friend who’s a great resource, who’s supportive,” Doherty said. “And I’m sure that’s the case with Hubert and Roy.”
Spotlight shines on Hubert Davis
Davis’ years as an assistant coach absolved him from the spotlight, but since he was hired as Williams’ successor in April, he’s encountered the kind of attention you can’t prepare for, you can only live it.
When his wife, Leslie, goes to the grocery store, she no longer does it with anonymity. His oldest son, Elijah, isn’t just another Davis on the University of Lynchburg’s basketball roster. He’s the guy opponents go after because his dad is at UNC.
“This is the first time that I’ve had the spotlight on me in two different areas, No. 1 with social media,” Davis said. “My time in the NBA and when I was with ESPN, there was no Instagram. There was no Twitter; there was no Tik Tok; there were no camera phones. There was nothing like that. This is the first time where I have been in the limelight, where my family has been in it as well.”
Davis isn’t on social media, and it’s probably good that he’s not after UNC went viral for all the wrong reasons after its loss to Duke. Video clips circulated online of Blue Devils’ coach Mike Krzyzewski, who was making his final appearance in the Dean E. Smith Center, being serenaded by an expletive from some fans as he entered the court and shook hands with Davis en route to the Duke bench before the game.
Davis said he didn’t hear the chants, but if he did, he would have addressed it. It was especially upsetting to Davis because he doesn’t curse, just as Smith didn’t when he was a player. There was one time, as an assistant when Davis did, and he apologized to the team and Williams afterwards.
The chants attracted national attention, including a segment on ESPN radio host Mike Greenberg’s morning show the following week.
“I don’t condone that and I apologize for the people that did hear it,” Davis said. “That’s something that I just 100 percent don’t condone and don’t agree with.”
Davis has frequently repeated his mantra on mistakes during the course of the season. A mistake can be used for good if, “you recognize it, admit it, learn from it and grow from it.” It’s what he expects from his players and what he tries to do as a coach as he navigates his first season.
“I make mistakes every day, I’ve never 51 and a half years have ever pitched a perfect day as a person,” Davis said. “So I wouldn’t think that I’ve pitched a perfect day as a coach. But I know that every day I try to be the best person that I can be; the best father I can be; the best husband that I can be; and the best coach that I can be.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 9:18 AM with the headline "Hubert Davis is leaning on UNC basketball’s past while navigating its future."