11 minute read
The Carolina Way ... Today
BUILDING A PROGRAM
STAGE 6: TRANSITION
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THE CAROLINA WAY... TODAY
EARLY MONTHS OF HUBERT DAVIS ERA DEMONSTRATE A COMMITMENT TO BLEND THE BEST OF CAROLINA’S PAST WITH AN EYE TOWARDS THE FUTURE
BY ADAM LUCAS PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI
CALEB LOVE: RECALL THAT DEAN SMITH BELIEVED THE BIGGEST JUMP CAME BETWEEN FRESHMAN AND SOPHOMORE SEASON; LOVE POISED FOR BIG LEAP.
Hubert Davis spent the summer transitioning Carolina to the future while keeping a healthy perspective on the past.
You’re probably aware of many of the on-court adjustments the new Tar Heel head coach and his coaching staff have made. Success in the transfer portal landed Justin McKoy, Brady Manek and Dawson Garcia, athletic players with versatile skill sets who can play close to the basket but are also comfortable around the three-point arc. July practices emphasized quick decisionmaking and a constant focus on spacing. Big men were told to post up for no more than two seconds before clearing the paint, opening more driving lanes and forcing the opponent to defend the entire court.
Not long ago, it might have taken Davis several recruiting cycles to install the type of personnel he needed to run his preferred style. In the era of the transfer portal, however, he was able to assemble a team that will have the ability to play his way immediately.
“On the offensive end, Coach Davis told me he wants a big guy who can shoot it and stretch the floor,” Manek says. “I think I bring that to the team. It’s a great fit.”
Those changes will be immediately evident when the Tar Heels take the court for an exhibition game at the Smith Center on Nov. 5 and the season opener against Loyola (Md.) on Nov. 9.
Less obvious will be some of the behind the scenes changes in the first few months of the Davis era. As you would expect from the nephew of Carolina legend Walter Davis, the new Carolina head coach is an encyclopedia of Tar Heel basketball. He’d been concerned in recent years that the program wasn’t quite as meaningful to the players of the 21st century, that their experience was somehow more transient than the one he relished as a player from 1988-92.
Well before anyone had a notion that Roy Williams was contemplating retirement, Davis was already working with former Carolina letterman Sasha Seymore’s company, Learn to
Win, to develop an app that would help teach Tar Heel history to players more comfortable with flicking through their phone than reading a textbook. The COVID year of 2019-20 made establishing a connection between the University at large and individual student-athletes even more difficult. The idea that players connect with Carolina as more than just a place to play basketball has been the core of the Tar Heel basketball experience since at least the Dean Smith era. But last year there were no in-person classes. There were “ “IT’S SO IMPORTANT THAT OUR STAFF REPRESENTS ALL THE GREAT COACHES WHO no afternoons passing free time in the Pit. There was no Franklin Street abuzz in the days leading up to a big Saturday home game. Even within the confines of the COACHED HERE. WITH EACH ONE OF THEM, Smith Center, the necessary health THERE WAS A FOUNDATION SET AND THEY ALL WALKED THE SAME PATH. BUT EACH ONE protocols chipped away at the connections within the basketball program. At its very best, the HAD THEIR OWN PERSONALITY AND WALKED basketball office and the Smith
IN THEIR OWN SHOES. THE PLAYERS WHO Center in general have always felt like a home to members of the
PLAYED FOR THOSE COACHES PLAYED IN program. Last year it felt more like
THE SAME PROGRAM BUT IN THEIR OWN WAYS HAD DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES. IT’S a place to clock in and clock out. “I felt like because of COVID and us always being socially IMPORTANT FOR ME TO BRIDGE THAT GAP.” distanced, every time we ate we had to go back to the hotel room,” Davis said. “Every time we practiced we had to go back to the locker room to our separate quarters. We weren’t able to spend time together. We weren’t able to get to know each other. That was something that was missed.” It probably shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise this summer, then, when assistant coach Brad Frederick asked Kerwin Walton if he knew how to get to the Old Well. Walton’s response: “What’s the Old Well?” That added another item to Davis’ summer to-do list: a campus tour for the underclassmen. Part of the disconnect will be solved by the world returning to normal this fall. This will be a more normal school year in every way, and that’s a major positive for a program that values a normal school year as one of its strongest selling points. But Davis has also been proactive in
bringing some of the Carolina basketball traditions to life for the current players.
He took the very intentional step, as he mentioned at his first press conference, of making sure multiple eras of Carolina Basketball are represented on staff. Jeff Lebo and Pat Sullivan played for Dean Smith. Brad Frederick played for Smith and Bill Guthridge. Sean May played for Matt Doherty and Roy Williams, as did Jackie Manuel.
“It’s so important that our staff represents all the great coaches who coached here,” Davis said. “With each one of them, there was a foundation set and they all walked the same path. But each one had their own personality and walked in their own shoes. The players who played for those coaches played in the same program but in their own ways had different experiences. It’s important for me to bridge that gap.
“When Mitch Kupchak or Tommy LaGarde or Eric Montross or Derrick Phelps are watching games on TV or reading articles or coming to practice, I want them to say, ‘That’s the Carolina I went to.’ And when Vince Carter or Antawn Jamison are watching games on TV or reading articles or coming to practice, I want them to say, ‘That’s the Carolina I went to.’ And when Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks and Kenny Williams are watching games on TV or reading articles or coming to practice, I want them to say, ‘That’s the Carolina I went to.’”
It’s impossible to keep that many people completely happy all the time, of course. At various times in Carolina Basketball history, players from every era have at some point felt their time period was being shortchanged. It’s simply human nature. But Davis is doing his very best to try and put that history directly in front of the current players, to enable them to make a tangible connection.
Over the course of a week in July, the current team was addressed by George Lynch, Tony Shaver and Phil Ford, while playing pickup regularly with former players like Tyler Hansbrough, Theo Pinson, Isaiah Hicks, Kenny Williams and Brandon Robinson.
It’s true that the current players might not immediately have
the background on Ford that, for example, a normal Rams Club member might have. But they understand the context clues. “I didn’t know as much about Phil Ford as a player,” said Justin McKoy, who was born nearly 25 years after Ford played for the Tar Heels. “But I know what it means when you look up in those rafters and see that number-12 jersey on the front row.” There’s a real danger that an overreliance on the past can make a program feel musty. UCLA has struggled for decades to figure out how to get past the John Wooden era. Indiana has never seemed quite certain how to move on from Bob Knight.“ “WHEN MITCH KUPCHAK OR TOMMY LAGARDE OR ERIC MONTROSS OR DERRICK PHELPS But Davis has taken steps to make sure he’s not just asking players to connect with the past. He wants them to connect with
ARE WATCHING GAMES ON TV OR READING him, with the program’s history a shared part of their experience ARTICLES OR COMING TO PRACTICE, I WANT together. Summer practices, for
THEM TO SAY, ‘THAT’S THE CAROLINA I WENT TO.’ AND WHEN VINCE CARTER OR example, started at unusual, Guthridge-endorsed times. The longtime Carolina assistant and
ANTAWN JAMISON ARE WATCHING GAMES three-season head coach began
ON TV OR READING ARTICLES OR COMING practices at 3:31 or scheduled bus departures for 5:01, reasoning TO PRACTICE, I WANT THEM TO SAY, ‘THAT’S that a more standard time such as
THE CAROLINA I WENT TO.’ AND WHEN MARCUS PAIGE AND BRICE JOHNSON AND 3:30 could be misinterpreted, but there was no mistaking what was intended by 3:31.
KENNEDY MEEKS AND KENNY WILLIAMS Davis attempted to personally
ARE WATCHING GAMES ON TV OR READING ARTICLES OR COMING TO PRACTICE, pick up every current player at the airport when they returned from summer break. “I can’t coach you I WANT THEM TO SAY, if I don’t know you,” he said at his
‘THAT’S THE CAROLINA I WENT TO.’” introductory press conference, and he wanted to be intentional about knowing them. Feeling at home in the basketball office was an important part of the Smith and Guthridge-era program. With that in mind, Davis established a new guideline that every player must come through the office at least three times a week to say hello and interact with the office staff and coaches. The opening months of Davis’ head coaching tenure have been a purposeful mix between important elements of the Smith, Guthridge and Williams eras along with a healthy infusion of new ideas related to player development and style of play. It is, in some ways, a new Carolina Basketball. But it is still Carolina Basketball. “Carolina has been tested and tried and proven successful through all the years,” Davis said. “The way we will play will be the Carolina Way. And it will be successful even now.”
RJ DAVIS: HUBERT DAVIS WANTS SHOOTERS, NOT SCREENERS, AND DAVIS IS A SHOOTER.
BBuilding a program at the University of North Carolina is a special thing for several reasons. As soon as you walk onto this campus, there is something special in the air in Chapel Hill. The academic and athletic success speaks for itself, and there is no doubt that being able to wear Carolina Blue every day is a very unique and special thing. When I think about “building a program” at a place like the University of North Carolina, I feel very fortunate.
First, all you have to do is take a quick walk around to the other coaches’ offices around our campus to know that you are surrounded by greatness. In a matter of minutes, I can stop by and see several Hall of Fame coaches to talk about our programs, share advice and learn from the absolute best. When on a daily basis, you can listen to stories and advice from people like Jenny Levy, Anson Dorrance and other legends in their respective sports, that is a special thing and something I do not take for granted. Being at Carolina means being surrounded by greatness, and when you become a Tar Heel, you get to experience that greatness being around you each and every day. When I think about building UNC Wrestling, I knew from the start that I wanted it to be centered on multiple key attributes – most notably, building our wrestling team around highcharacter student-athletes and making sure that our culture felt like a family. The teams and organizations that have the most long-term success have a great culture. They are not just successful. They do not measure their “greatness” simply on wins and losses. They focus on the everyday atmosphere, building a family and the rest, I believe, takes care of itself. We feel strongly around Chapel Hill that we are a Tar Heel Wrestling family. It’s not just something we say. We believe it, focus on that and pride ourselves on it. From a staff perspective, I know how important it is to have a coaching staff that shares the same core values, but can bring unique assets to the table. I want our staff to be not just hard workers and people who value family and love wrestling, but
also a staff that brings a unique skill set to the practice room each and every day. Tony, Jamill, Gary and myself all have the same mission, but we are able to bring different abilities to the mat when we are teaching. To me, that is crucial. As we continue to build our program, I can’t tell you how valuable it is to have the staff that I do. “ “The teams and organizations that have the most long-term success We trust each other, we value family and at the end of the day, we have the same mission: help young men grow and develop in many ways over their years in have a great culture. They are not Chapel Hill. just successful. They do not measure their “greatness” simply on wins and losses. They focus on the everyday atmosphere, building a family and the rest, I believe, takes care of itself.”
COLEMAN SCOTT
Head Coach, Wrestling Illustration by Jason McCorkle
