Born & Bred // November 2021 // Hubert Davis

T H E

ISSUE XXV

O F F I C I A L

M A G A Z I N E

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T H E

R A M S

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HUBERT DAVIS

A F A M I LY M A N

YOU PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEAD THE WAY. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE RAMS CLUB AND HOW YOU CAN IMPACT THE LIVES OF CAROLINA STUDENT-ATHLETES, VISIT RAMSCLUB.COM. P.O. BOX 2446 | CHAPEL HILL, NC 27515 | (919) 843-2000 | RAMSCLUB.COM |

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR The first time I had an extended non-interview discussion with Hubert Davis, I didn’t tell him we had already met plenty of times before.

When Davis returned to North Carolina as an assistant coach in 2012, his daughter joined the Bouncing Bulldogs jump rope team in Chapel Hill. My daughter was also a member, and one day I found myself waiting at pickup next to Davis. I remember thinking how happy he seemed to be a normal dad in the pickup line, content to talk about 60-second speed scores and practice schedules.

I did not, however, tell him thank you for the autographs. You see, Davis played at Carolina during my prime autograph-collecting years. This meant I had dozens of interactions with him during his fouryear career, because I had plenty of tricks to secure signatures. Waiting outside the players’ entrance to the Smith Center after the annual Blue-White game was a solid choice. Finding the Tar Heels at their team hotel in Charlotte was another.

Usually, my parents would arm me with the latest basketball schedule poster (you know the one, with the blue background and the coat-and-tie head shots of every player and coach) and observe from a safe distance.

I’d return from my quest with a poster full of autographs and usually a fun story or two about the players. My parents would offer their from-afar observations.

Now, it’s entirely possible that my mother had some preliminary bias towards Hubert Davis because it was a well-recited media guide fact that he played the cello. My mother did also, so of course they were kindred spirits.

And my dad already liked him because he was related to Walter Davis. To my parents, playing the cello and a familial relationship with Sweet D were the best possible credentials.

It’s funny what sticks with you. I vividly remember returning to the hotel lobby after chasing the Tar Heels around the SouthPark Suites hotel in Charlotte. My poster now contained the autographs of almost every player on the team, but something strange had happened.

“Hubert Davis thanked me for asking him,” I told my parents, slightly confused.

My mother beamed. See! People who played the cello truly were the best!

She gave me a smile. “His parents did a good job with him,” she said, one of the highest possible Southern compliments.

At the time, we had no idea. But now, as he begins his first season as the head coach of the Tar Heels, we’re about to learn much more about Davis, including the important contributions of his parents, which you’ll read more about in this issue.

And by the time you finish the last story in this issue, Kenny Williams’ first-person explanation of what Davis has meant to him, you’ll have a very good idea of not just who Davis was, but who he became.

And he’s still more than willing to sign all those autographs.

Adam Lucas Editor in Chief

PRODUCED BY THE RAMS CLUB // EDITOR IN CHIEF ADAM LUCAS // CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ANDREW STILWELL & LEE PACE // PHOTOGRAPHY MAGGIE HOBSON AND JEFFREY CAMARATI // DESIGN JUJUBE SPORTS PUBLISHING

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“He’s like a father to all of us. But he’s also somebody who when you get on the court, you don’t want to get on his bad side.” — ARMANDO BACOT ON HUBERT DAVIS

the

HUBERT DAVIS edition

ON THE COVER: Hubert Davis becomes the fifth Carolina head men’s basketball coach in the last 60 years.

COVER PHOTO: MAGGIE HOBSON TOC PHOTOS: MAGGIE HOBSON, UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS, BOB DONNAN

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EDITOR’S LETTER p. 3

H U B E R T D AV I S

TAR HEEL TICKER p. 6

14 Friendly, But With Fire

Hubert Davis might be the nicest person you’ve ever met, and he desperately wants to defeat you

BY ADAM LUCAS

H U B E R T D AV I S

22 A Coaching Connection Hubert Davis and Mack Brown have a relationship that predates much of their individual success

BY LEE PACE

H U B E R T D AV I S

26 Making Moves

A look at previous Carolina basketball head coaching transitions

BY ADAM LUCAS

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CAROLINA EVERYWEAR p. 20

H U B E R T D AV I S

32 Staff Profiles

BY ADAM LUCAS

32 Pat Sullivan: National champion is director of recruiting 33 Sean May: Tar Heel standout finally able to coach on court 34 Jackie Manuel: Personal connection a key skill 35 Jeff Lebo: Tar Heel pedigree and respected hoops mind 36 Brad Frederick: Solid recruiter, savvy bench coach

H U B E R T D AV I S

38 He Can Play

Hubert Davis followed a unique path to become one of the best shooters in basketball history

BY ANDREW STILWELL

FIRST PERSON

42 ‘A Genuine Leader’

Tar Heel national champion shares insight on new head coach

BY KENNY WILLIAMS

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TA R H E E LT I C K E R H U B E R T D AV I S

YOU AND COACH

We asked Rams Club members to share stories of their interactions with Coach Davis

As Coach Davis and I were contemporaries at Carolina (I was class of ‘89), I always liked seeing him. I first met him when he was playing for the Knicks in NYC and he signed a Carolina basketball for me at a signing event.

Then I got to see him again at the University of Pittsburgh, where my daughter attended school, when they were playing Carolina.

He was kind and gracious, and I’ve always been a fan of his. I am looking forward to this upcoming season and his leadership!

-MICHELLE HOCKMAN CUNNINGHAM GLEN ROCK, NJ

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This picture was taken in 2009 at Coach Davis’ house. He invited everyone over from FCA to watch the football game that day. This was my first semester at Carolina, and I just couldn’t believe I was sitting in Hubert Davis’ house, watching a Carolina football game. I was starstruck, and couldn’t believe how incredibly nice he and his family were to open their house to a group of strangers and college kids.

It remains one of my fondest memories from my time as a student at Carolina.

-KEVIN CHANDLER CHARLOTTE, NC

This is a picture of me and Coach Davis at the 2013 “Breakfast With Roy” event. This is the first time I met Coach Davis, and the event was a good time to talk with the coaches about the upcoming season.

I hope Coach Davis continues the event.

It would be great to come to a “Breakfast With Hubert” event for such a worthy cause.

-DEAN KANIPE MARION, NC

(Here’s a) great picture of Addison and Palmer with Coach Davis at the UNC Men’s Soccer home opener.

He was gracious in talking with the kids for a second and taking a quick photo -- and had that constant winning smile!

-WILL LLOYD CHAPEL HILL, NC

In 2015, UNC was taking on Temple in the Veterans Classic at the Naval Academy while Florida was taking on Navy. Riley Harper (now a freshman at UNC) had the opportunity to meet then UNC great and now coach Hubert Davis on the campus of the Naval Academy. Hubert was nice enough to take a picture, share some UNC stories, convince Florida Gator fan Robbie Harper to cheer for UNC, and further convince Riley Harper that the only place to go to college is the University of North Carolina!

-ROB HARPER WAKE FOREST, NC

(The) picture is of me and Hubert Davis chatting during one of the breaks (at the 2015 Roy Williams Camp). I could hardly believe how gracious and easy to talk to Hubert was. He and I engaged in a discussion about the prospects of the Heels winning the ACC and NCAA championships that season.

He said if the freshmen developed quickly and made meaningful contributions we had a good chance to win it all. The thing that impressed me the most about Hubert was that he was willing to spend a significant amount of his time talking in-depth to a complete stranger about something we both love, which is Carolina Basketball. He could have just blown me off and kept on walking, but to my great delight he approached me and initiated a conversation. That was proof to me that Hubert is as nice a guy as he appears to be in his interviews with the media. What you see is who he is.

-GEORGE HEDRICK RALEIGH, NC I had the distinct honor and privilege to be a team physician caring for Coach Davis when he played under Coach Smith from 1988 to 1992. No one worked any harder as he became UNC’s all time average 3 point percentage player on those very successful teams. After he graduated and was drafted by the New York Knicks, we stayed in touch by phone and in person during the summer Woollen Gym games over the years. He always had time to see me and my four sons who would stop by my office in Sports Medicine from time to time. In 1994, he had two tickets waiting to see him play and beat the Shaquille O’Nealled Orlando Magic in Madison Square Garden! We sat next to his father, Hubert, Sr., who played for Johnson C. Smith in the 1960s against Winston-Salem State, led by Earl “the Pearl” Monroe, whose banner hung in the MSG rafters. Sat there mesmerized by the flow of talent from father to son. A truly memorable experience following him from UNC into the pros. I can’t wait to see where he successfully takes us as Head Coach!

-GREG TUTTLE HILLSBOROUGH, NC

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TA R H E E LT I C K E R WELCOME HOME

BACK ON CAMPUS

We asked Rams Club members to send their favorite photos of being back in Chapel Hill this fall

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1. Nancy Carpenter, Caroline Carpenter & Selena Kongmany 2. Jerry Charleston, Parker Shoaf, Madeline Stahle & Alex Shoaf 3. Caroline Pulliam, Traci Wilson Pulliam, Addison Pulliam & Victoria Pulliam 4. Bryan Billups with Roy Williams 5. Tripp Harris 6. Mary Grayson Koonce & Caroline Koonce with Tyler Hansbrough 7. Alex Shoaf, Madeline Stahle, Jerry Charleston & Brenna Wood 8. Keana Upshaw & Laney Humphreys 9. Vinay Patel & Family 10. Caroline Bryant 11. Bob & Teresa Scheppegrell with Family & Friends 12. Reghan Flores, Kendra Randle, Abby Mills & Cameron Fardy 13. G & Annie Chapman with Friends 14. Steve Flowers 15. Louise Foster 16. William Sanford 17. Barry Eddinger with Roy Williams 18. Ken & Michelle Tangredi 19. Dakota Cheek 20. Emily Goldman, Marty Goldman & Rebecca Goldman 21. Bri Greenlow (on UNC’s Gymnastics Team!)

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24. Jenna Miller & Eloise Miller 25. Jeff & Kristi Eidson

26. Wendy Whittenton 27. Kennedy Cain

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30. George Moseley, Anne Moseley, Brennan Moseley Stewart, Jon Stewart, Jack Stewart, Edward Moseley, Alison Moseley, Mia

Moseley, Charlie Moseley & Oliver Moseley

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35. Michelle DelVechio & Bria DelVechio

36. Kelly Mooney, Roxanne King,

Stafford Peebles, Judy Peebles, Zan Davis, Bill Nelson, Sue Nelson & Leslie Latta

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39. Johnny & Peyton Hines

40. Sharon & Marty Goldman

41. Emma Gentry Landry & Friends 42. Morris Moye & Family

43. Andy Cheek & JT Cheek

44. Susan Gibson & Betsy Donovan

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THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF THE CAMPAIGN FOR CAROLINA ATHLETICS AND PLEASE HELP US FINISH STRONG! The Campaign for Carolina Athletics is about providing opportunities for Carolina student-athletes. Thank you for being a vital part of the team that makes these opportunities possible!

The University’s $4.25 billion For All Kind campaign – of which the Campaign for Carolina Athletics is a part – is 83% of the way to its December 2022 finish.

Your gifts in support of Carolina student-athletes put us 88% of the way toward our goal of $500 million! Please consider how you can help Carolina Athletics finish strong in this campaign!

TIME ELAPSED TIME ELAPSED

83%

15.68

17,371

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AVG. YEARS OF MEMBERSHIP

1,779

NEW MEMBERS IN 2020-21

76%

78% 25%

GOAL $500M

88%

TOTAL ACTIVE MEMBERS

22%

PERCENT TO GOAL

Every Rams Club member is a participant in the campaign through their annual membership gifts. Thank you for believing in our student-athletes! Please ask your friends and family to join our efforts as a member, and offer their own support to Carolina.

All information accurate as of August 31, 2021.

CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES

The Campaign for Carolina Athletics established a goal of $500 million in support of our Tar Heel student-athletes in four primary categories: Scholarship Endowment ($200M), Capital Projects ($115M), Team Support ($65M) and Annual Fund ($120M). Thanks to your generous support to date, we are 88% of the way there. Please consider how you might be able to participate in helping us reach these critical goals for Carolina Athletics!

Visit ramsclub.com to learn more!

OVERALL CAMPAIGN // $439.4M OF $500M GOAL

SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT // $117.7M OF $200M GOAL $76.96M*

CAPITAL PROJECTS // $136.1M OF $115M GOAL*

*While the original goal has been met, additional capital projects have been added during the Campaign.

A fundraising balance of $21M remains.

TEAM SUPPORT // $70.8M OF $65M GOAL

*20% is Planned Giving

ANNUAL FUND // $107.8M OF $120M GOAL

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT:

PLANNED GIVING

$86.4M

20% OF CAMPAIGN TO DATE

$64.0M $21.9M SCHOLARSHIP

TEAM SUPPORT

$500K

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FRIENDLY, BUT

WITH FIRE Hubert Davis might be the nicest person you’ve ever met, and he desperately wants to defeat you

BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY MAGGIE HOBSON

Y

ou should not think poorly about Hubert Davis because of this Cameron Indoor Stadium story that I am going to tell you.

You should not think he is unprofessional. You absolutely should not think he was too casual about his job at ESPN. You should not think that when he was on the air, he did anything but conduct himself with the absolute height of impartiality.

But at the same time, if you are a Tar Heel and you have ever been to a Carolina-Duke game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, or perhaps even watched one on television, then you are going to understand. You walk in the doors of Cameron and you promise yourself you will be on your best behavior.

You are going to cause no trouble whatsoever. You are a guest. Just sit and soak in the environment of the best rivalry in sports.

But Cameron Indoor Stadium has a way of doing something to Tar Heels.

And it’s not long before the blue is the wrong color and the cheers are so choreographed and the body paint is getting smeared on your shirt and you just have to…well, we’ll get to that.

And you should not—you will not—think poorly about Hubert Davis because of it.

Let us establish this right at the beginning. Every single person contacted for this story—this notably includes his 18-year-old son, Elijah, and if you know anything about teenage sons you understand how rare this is—tells you that Hubert Davis is one of the nicest people they know. It seems to be part of the standard description of Davis, like “12-year NBA veteran” or “Leslie’s husband” or “Elijah, Gracie and Micah’s dad.”

It is indisputably who he is. People are first predisposed to like him when they hear that laugh, that infectious cackle that instantly makes you believe you have just said the funniest words that have ever been uttered in the

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HUBERT DAVIS history of human speech.

But then they learn it’s more than just a laugh when they see how he treats people. At some point during his coaching career, you will probably hear that Davis’ kindness comes naturally. And it does. But he also tries—really tries—at it.

That is why, as the on-air talent for ESPN’s College Gameday, the biggest show in the sport, he took the time to learn not just the names of the crew, but the names of the crew’s families. It is why when Gameday came to the Triangle for a game, he and Leslie would have the entire crew—not just the on-air personalities, but the entire staff—to their house for dinner. It’s why the Davis family has opened their home to multiple student groups during Hubert’s stint as an assistant coach.

It is why, when he and Leslie were still running their youth basketball camp at the Smith Center in the early 2000s, he provided every camper with his personal phone number and email address and encouraged them to contact him anytime. It wasn’t unusual for campers to make in-season trips to Washington or Detroit or Atlanta just to see their buddy Hubert, who just happened to be one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA.

But this is also Hubert Davis, one of the universally acclaimed nicest people in the world.

It is the 2008-09 season, and Davis is back in Chapel Hill with Gameday for a Carolina game against Miami. It’s Friday, the day before the game, and Davis spends most of his time on set alternating between reading stories about the world of college basketball and reading the Bible.

Because no one can go near a basketball court without hoisting at least one shot, the crew is shooting on the floor of the Smith Center. Davis happens to walk by and the ball finds him. He lifts a jumper and it falls a little short.

The crew, of course, ribs him.

Davis’ face changes. He gets the ball, and this time he backs up multiple steps behind the three-point line. Swish. Swish. Swish.

Swish.

“Look up my career three-point percentage,” he says casually to senior researcher Jason McCallum. And then he goes back to his reading.

McCallum checks. At that time, the man who wouldn’t allow himself to be outshot by GameDay crew members is the secondleading three-point shooter (44.1 percent) in the history of the NBA.

Shooting has always been part of the Davis family genetics.

You know about Walter, of course. You might not be as familiar with Hubert Davis, Sr. He went to Johnson C. Smith University and says now with a smile, “I had a jumper.”

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The father recalls his one-on-one games with his son: “Once he learned how to shoot those three-pointers, I was no match for him in shooting. He’d stand out there and pop those threes, and that was trouble for me. So then I’d post him up, but once he started lifting those weights, right then and there, I was doomed.”

His shooting comes from his dad, but all involved will tell you that his personality comes from his mother, Bobbie. She died in 1986 after a battle with oral cancer, but you see her every day in the way Hubert Davis schedules his free time around his children’s activities, or takes the opportunity of an open Sunday to drive to Lynchburg to have lunch with his oldest son at college, or the way he adds a handwritten note to the bottom of what would otherwise be a form letter.

“A lot of what you see with Hubert’s personality is from his mom,” says Hubert Davis Sr. “The way he treats people, the way he listens—that’s all from his mom.”

Scene: the Davis house.

Davis’ wife, Leslie: “Can you think of any examples that show your competitiveness?”

Hubert: “My birth.”

Leslie: “What?”

Hubert: “From birth, people have underestimated me. Since I was born, if you put a ball in front of me, it was a competition. It doesn’t matter what it was. I was always going to go 100 percent.”

This is why Hubert Davis and the mid-1990’s New York Knicks—a seemingly odd combination—worked perfectly. Those were the Knicks of Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason and John Starks and…Hubert?

Yes, Hubert.

“THAT TEAM AND OUR IDENTITY WAS VERY MUCH ABOUT PHYSICAL TOUGHNESS,” SAYS GREG ANTHONY, WHO PLAYED WITH DAVIS FOR THREE SEASONS ON THE KNICKS. “IN THOSE DAYS WE DIDN’T HAVE THE INTERNET, SO WE JUST ASSUMED THAT IF THE KNICKS DRAFTED A GUY, HE WOULD FIT IN. AND HUBERT DID. A TEAM IS LIKE A FAMILY, AND THERE ARE SOME WHO AREN’T EXACTLY LIKE THE OTHERS, BUT YOU ALWAYS HAVE THEIR BACK. I DON’T KNOW THAT HUBERT HAS EVER HATED ANYTHING IN HIS LIFE. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO COMPETING, YOU WON’T FIND ANYONE MORE COMPETITIVE.”

FRIENDLY, BUT WITH FIRE

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HUBERT DAVIS

Anthony has spent a lifetime in basketball. When his son, Cole, was choosing where to attend college, he could have gone anywhere in the country. Everyone understood it was likely to be a very short stop in college before Cole moved on to the NBA, where he is now starring with the Orlando Magic.

But for that one year, Greg Anthony wanted him to get as much from the experience as possible, both on the court and off the court. And he knew exactly who he wanted to guide him.

“When you send your child to play for someone, you want to trust that what you see is what you get,” Anthony says. “That’s Hubert. He always knew that Hubert truly cared about him. Through his struggles, he saw who cared. And Hubert was the head of that, and that’s why we could not be more thrilled to be part of the Carolina Family.”

Hubert and Leslie’s oldest son, Elijah, is well aware of his father’s policy on competition.

Before Elijah left to play at the University of Lynchburg this summer, he was working out with his father. The game was simple: Elijah had to make five baskets, or Hubert had to get five defensive stops. The younger Davis won the first game, 5-0.

At that point, Hubert began to use some of his Knicks training. There was hand-checking. There was bumping. And oh, the trash talk.

“What’s the matter, can’t you score on an old man?” Hubert asked Elijah after a miss.

“I saw that look in his eye he gets when he is coaching or playing,” Elijah says. “He does not accept losing. He strives to win everything he can and does not let anyone outwork him. That’s the thing I admire most about him is that switch. He is all smiles and laughter off the court, but when he hits the court it is all business. He is the most competitive person I have ever met and people will soon realize how much fire he has inside of him.”

“Oh, there is a button,” says assistant coach Sean May. “He’s got a button you don’t want to push, and I love that about him.”

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Hubert Davis’ new Tar Heel team begin to realize that fire at a September practice. The head coach has instituted a new drill, called Trenches. It is a simple one-on-one battle, with the offensive player taking the ball near the top of the key. His job is simple: score without dribbling outside the painted area. The defensive player has to make the stop.

Made baskets can be difficult in the drill; depending on matchups, it’s harder than you might think to score on a defender who knows you’re not going anywhere other than the paint. On this day, though, the offense gets a couple early hoops.

Scores happen. But Davis doesn’t like the way his defenders react to them. He stops the drill.

“It is not OK,” he barks while stalking across the lane. “Nobody should be smiling. If someone scores like that on me, something is going to happen. It is not OK to let them score. I want it to be a long night when you come to play against Carolina.”

As his volume increases, the players look increasingly sheepish.

Theo Pinson is sitting at the scorer’s table, wide-eyed. The explosion is notable enough that the players are still discussing it the next day in the locker room.

“HIM GETTING ON US THE WAY HE DID FELT WAY WORSE THAN USING A BUNCH OF BAD WORDS,” SAYS ARMANDO BACOT. “HE HAD US ALL SHOOK. THAT’S THE DAY WE LEARNED NOT TO GET ON HIS BAD SIDE. IT WAS ALMOST LIKE WE HAD DISAPPOINTED HIM, AND THAT FELT TERRIBLE. HE HAS A WAY OF DOING IT THAT LETS YOU KNOW YOU MESSED UP, BUT ALSO ENCOURAGING YOU AT THE SAME TIME.”

FRIENDLY, BUT WITH FIRE

That encouragement can take multiple forms. On this day, the Tar Heels finish the drill and finish the practice. Most of the players are staying to play pickup, which is not officially part of practice and therefore coaches cannot watch. Davis doesn’t just speak to every player before he goes back upstairs to his office. He touches every single player. A fist bump here. A pat on the back there. An arm around the shoulder here.

This summer, Davis personally picked up as many players as he could at the airport when they were returning to campus after break.

At some point, his ability to connect will be described as effortless.

But it’s not. It’s very intentional, and it requires plenty of effort.

“I’ve told the guys I can’t coach you unless I know you, and you can’t play for me unless you know me,” Davis says. “The only way to do that is spend time together and get to know each other.

Something as simple as saying goodbye or hello or putting a hand on someone’s shoulder goes a long way to developing that relationship.

That’s what Carolina basketball has always been about and that’s what I’m about. I can’t do this job just about basketball. Coaching is easier when they know you love them and care for them. If the only interaction I have with them is yelling at them and telling them to run the floor or box out, that won’t work.”

Hubert Davis turned 50 years old in May of 2020. It was the middle of the lockdown phase of the pandemic. He had not seen his beloved father since before the pandemic began.

Let Hubert Davis, Sr. tell it: “On his 50th birthday, I told him I wanted to be the first one to congratulate him and wish him a happy birthday. So at 12:01 a.m., I sent him a text. In the text, I told him I looked up ‘father’ in the dictionary.

I saw a picture of him. I looked up ‘husband’ in the dictionary and saw a picture of him. I looked up ‘parent’ in the dictionary and saw a picture of him. I told him that I was so proud of him for those three things, because he has delivered on all of them.”

No mention of incredible basketball success, both playing and coaching. No mention of being a national television personality. Just family.

Junior called Senior later that day. “Dad, that was the best birthday wish I’ve ever gotten,” he told him.

You were promised a Cameron Indoor Stadium story, and now it is time.

Remember: no one’s job on ESPN is to be a robot. Everyone attended school somewhere. They are not required to lose their affinity for their school, but they are required to be fair.

And Hubert Davis always was fair. But he was also always a Tar Heel.

College Gameday was broadcasting from Duke. It was CarolinaDuke weekend, and Duke assigned the ESPN Gameday talent to seats in the stands near midcourt, closer to the Carolina bench side of the court.

The Tar Heels went on a run. They were taking control of the game. Davis was sitting next to Rece Davis. Hubert’s face stayed completely straight. His coworker could sense the emotion in him.

But he said nothing, just watched the game.

Until, that is, he could take it no longer. The Cameron crowd had gone almost completely quiet as Carolina began to control the game.

It was clear the Tar Heels were going to win. A sense of impending doom was settling over the crowd. It had been a very long nearly two hours enduring the sheer Duke-ness of the setting.

Hubert Davis, of ESPN temporarily but of Chapel Hill forever, leaned down to Rece Davis. Hubert had been perfectly cordial throughout the Blue Devil-tinged day. He had done his job.

But Hubert Davis was still Hubert Davis. And that is why, in a voice low enough that no one else could hear, he told Rece Davis exactly what was in his heart.

“I love,” said Hubert Davis, “beating these dudes in here.”

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Here are the “Rules”: -At least one person in the photo has to be a Rams Club member -You must be wearing Carolina gear -You must be in front of a notable landmark (sorry, as cool as Kenan Stadium and the Smith Center are, they don’t qualify).

SHOW US YOUR COLORS!

14 1) Terry & Beverly Rudolph of Chapel Hill at Omaha Beach in France; 2) Lee Stone of Salisbury, NC, skydiving over his hometown; 3) Sam Walton of Wilmington, NC, in Alaska; 4) Jim & Lynn Wallace of Fleming Island, FL, at the Hobbiton Movie Set in New Zealand; 5) Rob, Kirby & Amy Rucker of Hickory, NC, alongside the Thames in London; 6) John Tobben of Charlottesville, VA, in Sedona, AZ; 7) Michael & Sharon Leinwand of Leland, NC, with their sons, Adam & Ethan, at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon; 8) Chancy & Keith Kapp of Raleigh at Cape Lookout National Seashore with John & Kyle Arrowood; 9) Caleb, Chris, Carolina & Christy Holland at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota; 10) Gregory Blake of Troy, NC, with his family at Omaha Beach in France; 11) Caroline Carpenter of Burlington, NC, with Maura Holt-Ling, Mackenzie Melton & Abby Boettcher at the Washington Monument in Washington, DC; 12) Ted & Beverly Lingerfeldt of Cary, NC, in Kakslauttan; 13) David Chapman of Charlotte with Bonnie Richardson & Helen Herbert at Vail Ski Resort; 14) Vincent Abraham of Chapel Hill at Great Falls National Park; 15) Ken Tangredi of Elizabeth City, NC, in Las Vegas; 16) Carter Searcy of Cary, NC, at Skógafoss Waterfall, Iceland; 17) Sarah Swanson of Chapel Hill with Kelly Hemmings & Jessica Murray at Gem Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park; 18) George Floyd of Lake Waccamaw, NC, with his family at Jackson Hole, WY; 19) Jonathan Cuthrell of Clemmons, NC, with his adopted daughter (from Russia), Emma, at Red Square in Moscow; 20) Brandon Hartzell of Stephens City, VA, at the White House in Washington, DC; 21) Frank & Brenda Rickman of Franklin, VA, at the Grand Canyon Skywalk in Nevada; 22) Jerry, Jacob & Robbin Bryant of Greensboro with Carley, Walker, Dave & Nicole Arendas in St. John, USVI; 23) Paige Watson of Carrboro, NC, at Multnomah Falls, OR; 24) Greg & Rena Cauley of Kinston, NC, at Arches National Park; 25) Caroline, Michele & Steve White of Raleigh at the Grand Canyon; 26) Vinay Patel of Charlotte with his family at the Parliament Building in Delhi, India

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HUBERT DAVIS

A COACHING

CONNECTION 22

BORN & BRED

A COACHING CONNECTION

Hubert Davis and Mack Brown have a relationship that predates much of their individual success

BY LEE PACE // PHOTOS BY MAGGIE HOBSON

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ack Brown in his first year as Carolina’s football coach in 1988 signed a quarterback from Lake Braddock High in Burke, Va., named Todd Burnett. His top target for two years was a lanky, 6-4 receiver named Hubert Davis.

“I actually got letters and recruiting interest from Carolina football,” Davis remembers. “But my senior year, I was only 155 pounds. There is no chance I would have attempted to play football in college. But I absolutely loved football. If I’d been bigger, I would have tried to play both football and basketball at Carolina.”

Thirty-three years later, Davis had just been named head basketball coach at Carolina and one of his first public sightings in early April was at a Tar Heel football practice being run by Brown in the third year of his second tour of duty in Chapel Hill.

Davis playfully chided Brown that the Tar Heels never offered him a football scholarship.

“Well, it worked out okay for you,” Brown shot back.

Davis came to Carolina at the same time Burnett did, Davis on a basketball scholarship to play for Coach Dean Smith. Given his fondness for football and friendship with Burnett, Davis was a big fan of the Tar Heel football team when it was working to dig its way out of a 2-20 hole in Brown’s first two years in 1988-89 to have eight straight nonlosing seasons and six straight bowl bids before Brown moved to Texas in 1998.

By coincidence, Davis was in Texas as well during that time frame—on the roster of the Dallas Mavericks, a three-hour drive north of Austin. A trainer for the Mavericks had a nephew who punted for the Longhorns, so they arranged to get tickets for Davis and his wife Leslie to go a Longhorns home game. Davis renewed acquaintances with Brown and was given an open invitation to come to any Texas home game he wanted.

“After that, we became Texas Longhorn football fans,” Davis remembers. “We hung out in Coach Brown’s office after games and had a great time.”

By this time, Davis was in his mid-20s and had been in the fishbowl of the NBA. He developed a keener understanding of the demands for time, attention and decisions on the CEO of a major sports operation.

“I couldn’t believe how well Coach Brown handled everything thrown

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HUBERT DAVIS

his way,” Davis says. “Texas football is pretty big. It’s an elite program, the best of the best. He could prepare, practice and coach the game. Then he dealt with the media. Then he dealt with recruits and had genuine conversations with the parents. And he could turn down the volume and spend time with his family.

“I thought it was amazing how he handled all of that. That comes back to me thinking of running this program and needing to manage and excel in so many different areas throughout the day.”

Davis spent 20 minutes at football practice the day he was introduced as the Tar Heels’ head coach and came away with several pieces of advice, most notably on how to manage in-season conditioning.

“We were talking about running sprints after practice, and Coach Brown said he used to do that but doesn’t anymore,” Davis says. “He said that practices are structured and they’re coached in such a way the guys are running so much, they don’t need to run after practice. I took that and have implemented it into our basketball practices. I told them if they give this team everything they have in practice, I’ll never run sprints when we’re done. I told them, ‘Our practices are designed

to put you guys in a position to be at your best on the floor. The only time we’ll run sprints is if you do not give full effort.’”

Brown also told Davis that he was on Day One of the Hubert Davis Era—not some version of the Dean Smith or Roy Williams eras.

“You had wonderful mentors in Coach Smith, Guthridge and Williams and I’m sure you had some in the NBA,” Brown told him.

“Take all the pieces from them, but you’ve got to be you. Make sure you take your personality and your ideas. You can’t try to be someone else or worry what anyone thinks. It’s your job and your chance. You have to do what you think is best.”

Brown has photos in his office in Kenan Football Center of he and Smith posing in 1993 with the football team’s Peach Bowl trophy and the basketball team’s NCAA title trophy and another taken in early 2019 after his return to Chapel Hill of he and Williams.

In September, he added a photo of he and Davis from that spring football practice back in April.

“I loved Coach Smith, I loved Coach Guthridge and I loved Coach Williams,” Brown says. “Now I can’t wait to have another coach I’m friends with and watch him have success.”

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“YOU HAD WONDERFUL MENTORS IN COACH SMITH, GUTHRIDGE AND WILLIAMS AND I’M SURE YOU HAD SOME IN THE NBA. TAKE ALL THE PIECES FROM THEM, BUT YOU’VE GOT TO BE YOU. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE YOUR PERSONALITY AND YOUR IDEAS. YOU CAN’T TRY TO BE SOMEONE ELSE OR WORRY WHAT ANYONE THINKS. IT’S YOUR JOB AND YOUR CHANCE. YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT YOU THINK IS BEST.”

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HUBERT DAVIS

MAKING MOVES

A look at previous Carolina basketball head coaching transitions

BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI, UNC ATHLETIC COMMMUNICATIONS

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BORN & BRED

HISTORY OF TRANSITIONS

1961: Frank McGuire to Dean Smith

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y the time Frank McGuire left Carolina for the Philadelphia Warriors, assistant coach Dean Smith had already distinguished himself both on and off the court.

McGuire hired Smith one year after the Tar Heels won the 1957 national championship, defeating Smith’s beloved Kansas Jayhawks. When assistant coach Buck Freeman left Chapel Hill, McGuire remembered Smith, who had sheepishly admitted to McGuire the night of the championship game that Smith had rooted for Kansas instead of Carolina.

As a Carolina assistant, Smith’s acumen for the game was readily apparent. McGuire once went on a five-day recruiting trip to New York, and by the time he returned, Smith had installed and taught a completely new defense, the point zone. It became the primary defense of the 1959 Tar Heels and a key element of McGuire’s book, Defensive Basketball.

Smith also showed a knack for detail-oriented administrative tasks. When the NCAA sanctioned the Carolina basketball program in 1960 for excessive recruiting expenditures, it was

Smith who was appointed to compile the paperwork for the school’s appeal to college sports’ governing body. Although the council was impressed with Carolina’s appeal, even noting, “This board has never heard a more thorough and detailed defense of a university’s position than we did today,” the sanctions were upheld and the Tar Heels were placed under a one-year probation.

McGuire was placed on notice by Chancellor William Aycock that his off-the-court performance over the next year would be critical to the renewal of his contract. Several weeks later, he left for the Warriors.

McGuire recommended Smith as his replacement even though the newly minted Warriors head coach believed it would be difficult to compete at Carolina under the cloud of new Universityimposed sanctions—due partially to a gambling scandal centered at NC State—which included limiting the recruitment of players from outside the ACC region to two per year. Those concerns were allayed by the granite support of Aycock, who saw Smith through several crises early in his career.

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HUBERT DAVIS

1997: Dean Smith to Bill Guthridge

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he timing made this one unique. In early October of 1997, all the attention concerning Carolina basketball was on the loaded roster that returned from a Final Four run, including Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter and Ed Cota.

Then, suddenly, Smith announced he was retiring. He was 66 years old, so it wasn’t unlikely that he’d be ready to retire. He’d told the incoming class of recruits that it was possible that at some point in their four years, he wouldn’t be their coach. But by October, most Carolina fans thought the time to worry had passed.

Just as Smith had hoped, Guthridge was immediately announced as the next head coach. There was no time for a search—practice began in a week.

The transition to Guthridge was relatively seamless, as you’d expect from a coach who had worked beside Smith for three decades. Guthridge guided the Tar Heels to the Final Four in 1998, buoyed by a sensational season from Jamison. He was named consensus National Coach of the Year.

2000: Bill Guthridge to Matt Doherty

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espite leading Carolina to two Final Fours in three seasons as head coach, Bill Guthridge mentioned retirement several times in the weeks following his team’s national semifinal run in the spring of 2000. He made a decision: he’d work through the program’s three weeks of summer basketball camps to see if the constant hive of campers, gyms and counselors reenergized him.

It didn’t, and Guthridge announced his retirement on June 30. He became so emotional when addressing his team that he couldn’t say the words and simply handed them a sheet of paper informing them of his retirement.

Guthridge’s departure began a weeklong pursuit of Roy Williams, who ultimately decided to stay at Kansas. That left athletic director Dick Baddour with a young, up-and-coming coach who seemed to be a solid fallback candidate: Matt Doherty. The member of the 1982 national champions had just finished his first season at Notre Dame, where he had guided the Fighting Irish to the NIT. There were some within the Carolina basketball family who were not convinced of Doherty’s readiness to guide a program like the Tar Heels, but Doherty likewise wasn’t certain it was a jump he wanted to make.

That is, until he received a call from former teammate Michael Jordan. The greatest player in basketball history told Doherty the program needed him, because the next step after Doherty might be outside the family.

The transition to Doherty was the only change in modern (post-1957) program history that brought in a coach who was not on the existing

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coaching staff or hadn’t been an assistant coach at Carolina previously.

It was also the rockiest, as Doherty imported his own coaching staff while parting ways with incumbent assistants who were members of the Carolina family.

There were high points—most notably a road win over Duke in his first season—but Doherty himself has admitted he made some short-sighted mistakes in taking over the program and in his management of Tar Heel basketball during his three seasons.

HISTORY OF TRANSITIONS

2003: Matt Doherty to Roy Williams

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hree years later, Carolina was in pursuit of Williams again. Doherty’s departure from Carolina was announced as a resignation, but he left after missing the NCAA Tournament two seasons in a row and with an unsettled atmosphere around Tar Heel basketball. Current players were considering transferring and former players were no longer returning to Chapel Hill as frequently in the summer. Both on and off the court, it was harder to find the characteristics that make Carolina basketball unique.

Doherty’s resignation was announced on April 1. At that point, Williams’ Kansas team was still alive in the NCAA Tournament, where they would eventually lose the national championship game to Syracuse.

There was a healthy contingent of Carolina fans who believed another chase for the Asheville native would be futile. But life in Lawrence had changed. Kansas supporters had forced out athletic director Bob Frederick, a close Williams friend, because of perceived fund-raising and football weaknesses. Frederick was replaced by Al Bohl, who immediately proved to be a better fund-raiser but, more importantly, to have a special talent for getting on people’s nerves.

There were other reasons to return to Chapel Hill.

Williams had two ailing family members living in the area, and to a man who prizes family, that was a significant detail. Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich, two Jayhawks with whom Williams had developed a father-son relationship, were graduating.

After again agonizing about the decision, Williams this time chose to return. He was greeted by a throng of ecstatic Carolina fans at the Smith Center on the evening of his press conference, and he immediately began rectifying some of the problems that had plagued the Doherty regime.

“There is only one source for Carolina basketball,” Williams said about two weeks after his hiring, “and that is me. That was one of the problems that made it so difficult here before. There were so many sources. It came out that Matt was doing this or Matt was doing that, and somebody forgot to ask Matt.”

Williams also initiated plans for a Carolina Basketball Alumni Reunion, an extremely popular weekend that helped reconnect past and current players. By the summer of 2004, former players were again flocking to the Smith Center, and by the spring of 2005, the program had its first national championship since 1993.

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A 40-YEAR DECISION

FOOTBALL LETTERMEN SUPPORT PROGRAM WITH NAMED SPACES AT KENAN STADIUM

DA’NORRIS SEARCY, 2007-10 • DEFENSIVE BACKS MEETING ROOM The defensive backs meeting room in Kenan Football Center is now named in honor of Da’Norris Searcy, a 2007-10 safety and kick returner who went on to play nearly a decade in the NFL. Searcy made a significant gift to the Carolina football program and is recognized in signage outside the room used by the “Rude Boys” - as the Tar Heel defensive backs have been known for three decades.

“Carolina got a kid out of a tough situation and gave me an opportunity to better myself as a person,” says Searcy, who signed in Butch Davis’ first recruiting class from his home in Decatur, Ga. “I experienced so much and learned so much. I wanted to experience new things, new places, different people. Chapel Hill opened my mind to so much more than just Atlanta. It gave me a sense that the world is bigger than just my neighborhood. I just want to give back and leave a lasting legacy for ‘The Rude Boys’ and the Carolina football program.”

HAKEEM NICKS, 2006-08 • WIDE RECEIVERS MEETING ROOM Nicks retired after the 2015 season after a seven-year NFL career that included a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants and 356 career receptions for more than 5,000 yards.

His legacy now lives on in the Kenan Football Center after having made a generous contribution to name the wide receiver meeting room.

“It’s always good to be able to give back if you’re in that position,” says Nicks, who lives in his hometown of Charlotte. “I owe a lot to the University of North Carolina. They were the only school to offer me a scholarship (I committed before my senior year). They gave me the opportunity, and that means a lot to me. They believed in me before anyone else did.”

“They prepared me for life beyond Carolina, particularly going to a market like New York in the NFL. Things like having a presence, how to carry yourself, to be humble, to interact with the media. We had a seminar on dinner etiquette. There were so many things I faced that I was prepared for because of the University of North Carolina.”

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TEAMMATES OF QUINCY MONK, 1997-01 INSIDE LINEBACKERS MEETING ROOM After a three-year career in the NFL and a return to the Triangle area to begin a business career and to raise a family, Monk died in November 2015 of adenocarcinoma, an aggressive form of cancer.

The Quincy Monk Inside Linebacker Room was dedicated in March through gifts made by the people Monk impacted the most – his teammates. Those teammates and his coaches saw firsthand the quality football player that Quincy Monk was, and more importantly, the genuine person he was.

“Seeing what his teammates have done to honor him with this legacy tribute is really special,” says Brian Chacos, a former teammate of Monk’s and currently a major gift director with The Rams Club. “I love seeing our former student-athletes giving back to Carolina, and in this case, honoring an incredible man like Quincy.”

JEFF SATURDAY, 1994-97 • OFFENSIVE LINE MEETING ROOM “Being close to the program the last two years has brought back so many great memories,” says Jeff Saturday, Tar Heel offensive line legend. “I look at my experience at Carolina, and it was fantastic. I grew so much. I entered as a boy and left as a man.”

Saturday had a 12-year NFL career with the Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers, highlighted by a Super Bowl ring in 2007 and five Pro Bowls.

The room will be designated the Saturday Family O-Line Room. Jeff and his wife, Karen, wanted to pay tribute to the spirit of family that has pervaded the position group at every level of football he’s played. “Wherever I’ve been, the O-line has always been a family,” Saturday says. “Karen was as much a part of this as I ever was.”

“Being close to the program the last two years has brought back so many great memories,” Saturday adds. “I look at my experience at Carolina, and it was fantastic. I grew so much. I entered as a boy and left as a man.”

To read these full stories and more, visit:

RAMSCLUB.COM/IMPACT

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STAFF PROFILE:

PAT

SULLIVAN

NATIONAL CHAMPION IS DIRECTOR OF RECRUITING, BUT ALSO MUCH MORE

BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY MAGGIE HOBSON

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here’s no greater example of the way building a college basketball staff has changed than Hubert Davis’s hiring of Pat Sullivan.

The Bogota, N.J., native is officially Carolina’s director of recruiting. But the first asset Davis mentioned about Sullivan was something very different.

“Coach Sullivan, with his 18 years of NBA experience, has been really neat,” Davis says. “We have so many former North Carolina NBA players that come back in the summer and train here and prepare for the upcoming season and all of them want to work out with Coach Sullivan with his experience in the NBA and getting them ready.”

Davis has said he’s a believer in “relentless” skill development. It turns out that’s not a philosophy that ends with the current team; it extends to the numerous Tar Heels who return to Chapel Hill in the summer. Even in the still somewhat odd summer of 2021, it wasn’t unusual to walk around the Smith Center and bump into Tyler Hansbrough, Coby White, or Theo Pinson. And now they know there’s a Tar Heel on staff dedicated to helping them get in a pro-style workout any time they want it.

Sullivan’s job, then, is fairly simple: he’s going to do a little bit of everything.

Which makes it a good fit, because his credentials cover a wide path through every level of basketball.

Tar Heel fans will remember him best as a player, specifically as the forward who knocked in a clutch front end of a one-and-one near the end of the 1993 national championship game. He played in more NCAA Tournament games (19) and more NCAA Tournament wins (17) than any Tar Heel in history, and he’s one of just nine Tar Heels who have played in three Final Fours.

He’s also been a high school head coach, and he worked a season under Dean Smith as an assistant video coordinator before eventually becoming a three-season assistant to head coach Bill Guthridge. Then he began an 18-year odyssey in the NBA that included stops with six different teams in a variety of roles, a journey that exposed him to the philosophies of Larry Brown, Doc Rivers, Lawrence Frank and Randy Wittman, among others.

So Sullivan fits Davis’s stated desire for everyone on his staff to have a Tar Heel background. But his diverse resume also means he has plenty of experience from which to draw, and current players have already noticed the benefits of having someone with two decades of NBA coaching knowledge on staff.

“The addition of Coach Sullivan has been great,” says Armando Bacot. “He’s giving us all advice on the next level and some of the things that they look for, but also trying to get us to incorporate that in our day-to-day life. Like the way pros carry themselves, some of the different workouts and things they do, but also the way they play. We’ve gotten a little insight into that, too, incorporating some of the things he learned into some of the things we do now.”

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STAFF PROFILE:

SEAN

MAY

TAR HEEL STANDOUT CONNECTS WITH PLAYERS WHILE ALSO TEACHING THEM

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BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY MAGGIE HOBSON

arly this fall, Sean May was reflecting on Carolina’s summer practice sessions. Around the time school starts, the NCAA permits teams four hours of work per week.

May had been out on the Smith Center court working with the Tar Heel big men when he happened to glance over to the sidelines, where a steady procession of former Carolina players and coaches have watched practice during the Hubert Davis era. Phil Ford has been there. Eddie Fogler was a regular. And, on this day, there was Roy Williams.

May found it strikingly odd that he was out on the court coaching while the Hall of Fame coach was having a conversation on the sidelines. It was a complete role reversal from past years, when May was not allowed to do on-court work in his staff role, while Williams, of course, directed everything that happened.

Now the roles have changed. And while seeing Roy Williams in a spectator role may never seem natural, May is finally in exactly the spot observers have already forecast for him.

Davis has used the word “relentless” to describe his commitment to skill development. And that sort of on-court mentorship is something May has been missing during his time on staff, when his direct player coaching was limited by NCAA rules.

“It’s been hard just having to watch practice and not being able to really say or do anything,” the 2005 Final Four Most Outstanding Player says.

And he quickly showed why he’d be such an asset in teaching and guiding players.

“Having Big May as a coach is a blessing,” says Tar Heel big man Armando Bacot. “He’s one of the smartest players to play at UNC. He always knows the right spots and he’s always giving us pointers, too.”

As a former first-round draft pick and longtime professional player, May has always connected with the players and was somewhat of a conduit to the younger generation with Williams’s staff. Now he’s able to expand that personal connection to an on-court teaching role, where Williams always said May would thrive once given the opportunity.

That pro experience also gives May a window into the style most high school prospects want to play today. His engaging personality makes him a natural in living rooms. But he’s also able to effectively communicate how a Tar Heel playing career can seamlessly translate to the next level.

“The thing I always try to explain to kids is, the way we play is our system,” May says. “How can you manipulate that system to fit your needs and get what you want out of it? I was a below the rim player, but I found ways to be effective. A lot of times it’s understanding when things are happening and doing them before the ball gets to you—work early, as we like to say. It’s easy for me to speak to that.”

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STAFF PROFILE:

JACKIE

MANUEL

KNACK FOR CONNECTING MAKES MANUEL A NATURAL FIT

BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY MAGGIE HOBSON

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ne was a defensive ace who sacrificed his personal shooting statistics for team success as a senior.

One was an offensive standout who admittedly didn’t develop a deep interest in defense until after he left Carolina.

Jackie Manuel and Hubert Davis had very different basketball careers. But in one very important way, they are perfectly suited to work alongside each other on this year’s coaching staff: both are among the very few people about whom you’ll almost never hear someone say something negative.

Manuel didn’t have the same jumper Davis possessed, and Davis couldn’t have locked down an opposing shooter the same way Manuel frequently did.

But engage in a conversation with either of them and you’ll quickly find out why they’ve always connected: they listen and they care.

“Hubert is somebody I’ve looked up to for a long time,” Manuel says. “I always thought he’s the most amazing person on this earth. To be working for Hubert, be able to learn from him, and to have a good group to work with—sometimes people take that for granted. But once you move around in this business and realize how hard it is to have special people that you’re working with, you appreciate and value that.”

In his role as director of player and team development, Manuel will have a diverse job description that includes career development, community service, skill development and recruiting details, plus oversight of the annual summer basketball camp. But even a job with that many aspects can be distilled to one simple element: people.

Like Davis, Manuel has a knack for connecting with virtually anyone and with understanding what they need to be successful. He’s prayed with individual Tar Heels before practice sessions. He’s talked defensive nuances with the Carolina guards.

Just like his head coach, Manuel is pleased to be working with the Tar Heels because Chapel Hill is home. He met his wife, Ronda, in Chapel Hill. He’s worked at other basketball stops, including a season playing abroad in Japan and coaching stops at Valparaiso, UNC-Greensboro and UNC-Wilmington.

But he’s always been a Tar Heel. He knows how to make sure that love for the place and the program is apparent to others. And he also realizes the best way to get the most out of the experience is to have a life outside the Smith Center. As Davis says, “Coach Manuel has been terrific with our guys in terms of consistently getting them out in the community and serving.”

“I just love people,” Manuel says. “I love the interaction. Most importantly, I know how my journey was, not knowing anything when I got here and still trying to figure it out when I left. So I’m trying to cut that time in half for them, and give back as much as I can. I want these guys to have as much information as they possibly can to just be better people and better adults. You’re going to learn basketball, but there are things that are also important outside of basketball.”

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STAFF PROFILE:

JEFF

LEBO

VETERAN HEAD COACH BRINGS TAR HEEL PEDIGREE AND RESPECTED HOOPS MIND TO THE BENCH

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BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY MAGGIE HOBSON

ome coaches lobby for jobs. Some coaches prepare an in-depth dossier explaining why they’re the right fit. And some are found while they’re powerwashing their deck on the Crystal Coast.

That’s what Jeff Lebo was doing when Hubert Davis reached him by phone in the days after Davis was named Carolina’s new head coach. The two were Tar Heel teammates during the 1988-89 season, when Lebo was a steady senior guard and Davis was a largely overwhelmed freshman. Both have spent a lifetime in the game since then, and Davis knew instantly Lebo would add the right ingredients to the staff.

“I had to have him,” Davis said. “He was the first person I called when I got the job…I’ve always admired Jeff as a teammate, a friend and a coach. He’s been in the position a number of years of constantly making decisions. I always believe that you have to have diversity in your staff, but you also have to have people on your staff who have been there before.”

It’s become commonplace for younger head coaches to hire an older, veteran head coach as an assistant to provide some wisdom for their staff. Juwan Howard has Phil Martelli at Michigan. Jerry Stackhouse added Ed Conroy at Vanderbilt, and Wes Miller will work with C.B. McGrath this season at Cincinnati.

Lebo isn’t old enough to be “the old guy.” But his coaching experience, including 20 years as a head coach at stops from Tennessee Tech to Auburn (and a career mark 50 games over .500), means he’s familiar with all the in-game snap decisions and adjustments that have to be made. He’s been in halftime locker rooms and had to decide how to stop a hot shooter or attack an unexpected defense.

“I want to serve in any way that they want me to,” Lebo says. “Whatever Coach Davis needs me to do, I hope I can provide. I’ve been a head coach for 20 years and had a lot of different experiences. That move from the assistant seat to the head coaching seat is a big one. I’ve sat in that seat and I’ve made that move. I want to be able to help in any way that he sees I can serve him the best. To be on the staff, to even help some of the younger coaches, and to learn from them, too. I’m a basketball junkie. I love to learn, I love to change and do different things. I love to study the game. Those are things I hope to bring to Coach Davis and his staff.”

Lebo’s technical mind has been praised ever since he was a player, when it was sometimes said that he had perhaps the most Dean Smith-esque view of the game of any of the Smith coaching tree. But it’s also been obvious in his initial months on the job that he’s not just a chalkboard coach. Lebo has been a constant presence around the Smith Center, always available to work out a player or just talk basketball.

“He played here and he was a point guard here,” says R.J. Davis. “So I’m learning a lot from him as far as how to run a team, finding the different angles and different options.”

“He brings things to me that I don’t see,” Hubert Davis says. “And the reason why he can do that is because there’s a huge difference in just moving over one seat. His suggestions are so valuable. I wouldn’t be able to do this job without Coach Lebo.”

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STAFF PROFILE:

BRAD

FREDERICK

TAR HEEL ASSISTANT HAS PROVEN TO BE SOLID RECRUITER, SAVVY BENCH COACH

BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY MAGGIE HOBSON

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n the immediate days following the surprising retirement of Roy Williams, Brad Frederick wasn’t always certain he’d be back in Chapel Hill this fall. And so, when Hubert Davis announced his 2021-22 coaching staff, with Frederick in that familiar bench role next to new assistants Sean May and Jeff Lebo, it was obvious the eight-year veteran of the Tar Heel bench was still excited to be part of Carolina Basketball.

“I am thrilled,” Frederick said back in mid-April, “to be here.”

Having played on two Carolina Final Four teams in 1997 and 1998, Frederick is part of an all-UNC player coaching staff. And he understands why those credentials were important for Davis when filling his staff.

“I feel so fortunate to have been around Coach Smith and play for he and Coach Guthridge,” Frederick says. “What you see when you are around so many former players is that the Carolina basketball family is like no other family. There’s nothing like the bond of the Carolina family. Not only does Hubert Davis have a responsibility to the basketball program and the University, but also to the former players. That’s a big group and a passionate group. Those guys care about the success of the program, and it would be hard for someone outside to understand that.”

Frederick understands because he was part of that transitional team that bridged the Smith-Guthridge era. That means he immediately has a point of reference for all the Smith-related nuances that Davis frequently mentions.

Summer practices, for example, began at 3:31 p.m. Not 3:30, but 3:31.

That’s a Guthridge quirk that the longtime assistant and three-year head coach believed helped everyone remember exactly what time they were supposed to be ready to practice.

Frederick and Davis have another similarity. The outside perception of both men mostly centers on how congenial they seem. But Frederick is well aware there’s another side to the new head coach (just as Frederick’s fiery side can occasionally be spotted on the Tar Heel bench during games).

“Everybody says what a nice guy Hubert is,” Frederick says. “What you don’t see behind the scenes is how much passion he has. Having the privilege of going into a home with Hubert when he talks about his love for Carolina—just like you heard at the press conference, it just shines through so much. But it’s also that passion, that competitive spirit he has, that you don’t get to see. Maybe it’s a halftime talk, or a talk after a game, or his work with the players where you really see that shine through.”

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HE COULD PLAY

HE COULD

PLAY

Hubert Davis followed a unique path to become one of the best shooters in basketball history

A

BY ANDREW STILWELL // PHOTOS BY BOB DONNAN

sk almost anyone associated with basketball about Carolina head basketball coach Hubert Davis, and they’ll tell you one of two things.

First, he has a strong passion and knowledge for the game.

Second, he loves Carolina.

Davis’s uncle, Walter, played for Dean Smith from 1973-1977, but there was no guarantee that Hubert would have the same opportunity to don the Carolina blue and white. In fact, it required a little bit of convincing during his in-home recruiting visit.

As a senior at Virginia’s Lake Braddock Secondary School, Davis averaged 28 points per game and was a McDonald’s All-American, but only had two college offers—from George Mason coached by Rick Barnes and George Washington, coached by former Tar Heel John Kuester, a college teammate of Davis’s uncle. Out of respect to “Uncle Walt,” Coach Smith, accompanied by assistant coach Roy Williams, gave the younger Davis an in-home recruiting visit.

“It was different, because in my living room, Coach Smith told me I should go to George Mason or George Washington,” Davis recounted in his introductory press conference. “He didn’t think that I was good enough, athletic enough, quick enough to play right away at Carolina.

“I remember at 17 years old telling Coach Smith and Coach Williams, ‘You might be right, but you’ll never know for sure unless you give me a chance’,” he continued. “I told them that I wanted to come [to Carolina]. This is where I wanted to get my education. They left my house without extending an offer.”

Those words resonated with Coach Smith, who called Davis two days later to offer him a scholarship at Carolina. He committed on the spot, and would go on to play at Carolina for four years from 1988-1992.

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HUBERT DAVIS During his time at Carolina, Davis averaged 11.8 points per game and remains the all-time leader at UNC for career 3-point percentage, making 43.5% of his career threes while at Carolina.

The Tar Heels reached the NCAA Sweet 16 each season Davis was on the team, and in 1991, Davis’s junior year, they made it to the team’s first Final Four since winning the 1982 National Championship.

Named team captain his senior year, Davis earned secondteam All-ACC honors in 1992, averaging 21.4 points per game in his final season. He was ready for the next level.

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

Hubert Davis was selected by the New York Knicks with the 20th pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. New York would be his home for the first four years of his NBA Career.

“I just loved playing in New York,” Davis revealed in an interview earlier this year.

“Coming from Chapel Hill, going to New York City, I knew the Knicks were important, but with [all of the other professional teams], I wondered how many people would really be interested in Knicks basketball. I wish I had played all 12 of my NBA years in New York City. When I think about New York basketball and the Knicks, I think about home.”

One of Davis’s signature moments as a Knick came during his second season in 1994, facing the Michael Jordan-less Chicago Bulls in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals. The series was tied at two games apiece, and game five had come down to the wire, with the Bulls leading the Knicks 87-86 with 7.6 seconds remaining.

The in-bounds pass came to the Knicks’ John Starks, who dribbled toward the corner, executing a pick and roll with Knicks center Patrick Ewing. As Ewing rolled toward the basket, Davis, known throughout his career as a three-point specialist, headed to the top of the key. Starks found the wide-open Davis, who attempted the game-winning shot. He was met at the top of the key by the Bulls’ Scottie Pippen, who fouled Davis on his elbow.

While the shot did not go in, both Pippen and Bulls head coach Phil Jackson were visibly angry with the “phantom” call, believing that Pippen did not foul Davis.

“He absolutely fouled me! It was actually a flagrant foul!” Davis recalled with a laugh nearly three decades later. “I’m still having surgery on my right elbow to this day!”

With 2.1 seconds on the clock, Davis, an 84 percent free throw shooter during the 1993-1994 season, calmly stepped to the line and made both free throws, giving the Knicks the Game 5 win.

They would go on to win the series, eventually advancing to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Houston Rockets in seven

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games.

Over his career in New York, Davis averaged just shy of 10 points per game and made 45 percent of his three-point shots, with his career high of 32 points coming in a game against Minnesota during the 1993-1994 season. He was traded to the Toronto Raptors prior to the 1996-1997 season.

“It’s going to be a great situation for Hubert at Toronto,” said Knicks President Ernie Grunfeld at the time of the trade. “He had steady improvement every year in all facets of his game, and that’s because of his work ethic. He worked at it. Hubert is one of the nicest people ever to wear a Knicks uniform. He’ll be missed.”

Davis’s Knicks head coach, Jeff Van Gundy summed it up best.

“Hubert was what you want in a player: dependable, reliable, trustworthy and his work ethic was second to none,” he said.

EVERYTHING’S BIGGER IN TEXAS

After being released by Toronto, Davis signed with the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the 1997-1998 season.

“Hubie not only was one of the most accurate shooters in Mavs’ history, [but he was] a 3-point wizard long before they were common,” said Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, “He has a heart of gold and cares about his teammates, the organization and the community.”

As a member of the Mavericks, Davis made more than 45% of his three-point shots. During the 1997-1998 season, he averaged a career high 11.1 points per game. That season, he finished runnerup in the 3-point contest to eventual champion Jeff Hornacek. In the first round, Davis connected on eight consecutive threes at one point to advance. In the semi-finals, Davis was able to outdo himself, hitting 11 straight 3-point baskets, enroute to a secondround score of 24, the second highest one-round total in the

“

“HUBIE NOT ONLY WAS ONE OF THE MOST ACCURATE SHOOTERS IN MAVS’ HISTORY, [BUT HE WAS] A 3-POINT WIZARD LONG BEFORE THEY WERE COMMON. HE HAS A HEART OF GOLD AND CARES ABOUT HIS TEAMMATES, THE ORGANIZATION AND THE COMMUNITY.”

HE COULD PLAY history of the competition’s original 30-point format.

He competed again in his third and final three-point contest during the 1999-2000 season, finishing with 14 points in the first round, one point shy of advancing to the semi-finals. That season, Davis led the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage, connecting on 82 of his 167 3-point attempts, good for 49.1%.

In 2000-2001, his final season in Dallas, Davis connected on seven 3-pointers in a November game against the Seattle Supersonics, his most made 3-pointers in one game, tying his career high in points with 32.

WASHINGTON WIZARDRY

In February of 2001, Davis was part of a nine-player trade that sent him from Dallas to Washington where he became a member of the Wizards organization. He would average 10.2 ppg in 15 games for Washington in the second half of the 2001 season. The following year, Davis would become teammates with the “best player he ever played against,” fellow Tar Heel Michael Jordan.

“It was unbelievable being on the court with him,” Davis recalled.

“Michael was the only guy I’ve ever played with that didn’t take a break on any possession, on either end of the floor. He came after you defensively, and then on offense, he never took a rest.

“I was so thankful that I had the opportunity to play with him for one season with the Wizards, just to have first-hand knowledge of the practicing and games, all of the hard work and preparation that he put in to be the best basketball player ever,” Davis continued. “It was great playing against him and even better playing with him as a member of the Wizards.”

Appearing in 66 games with the Washington Wizards, Davis was traded again ahead of his 11th NBA season, this time to the Detroit Pistons. Over the last two years of his career, spent with Detroit and the New Jersey Nets, Davis played in 60 games, appearing sparingly, but it actually helped launch his broadcast career at ESPN. “My last year with the Nets, in 2004, was the only year I had sat the bench, at any level,” Davis recalled in a 2011 interview. “But, in game 41, my coach said I was going to play. After the game, I was interviewed by radio and television, and a broadcasting agent in New York turned on the local news and saw the interview. He thought I spoke okay, called my basketball agent, and called me, and begged me to try out for ESPN.” The rest, as they say, is history.

Davis finished his 12-year NBA career with 685 games played for six teams, averaging 22.1 minutes and 8.2 points per game. To this day, Davis holds the second-best career three-point shooting

percentage (44.1%) in NBA history of those who have made at least 600 career three-pointers, ranking only behind Steve Kerr.

Davis’s basketball career can best be summarized by the man who accompanied Dean Smith on that recruiting visit to the Davis family’s living room in 1988, former head coach Roy Williams.

“Hubert Davis was an overachiever as a basketball player. He was a McDonald’s All-American, he scored 1600 points at North Carolina, and had a 12 year career in the NBA.” Williams said. “I’ve never known a finer person in my entire life, who has a switch he turns on and can be as competitive as anybody around.”

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FIRST PERSON

‘A genuine leader’

W

When I think about the people who have had the biggest

impact on my life, there’s no possible way that I could leave

everything in his power to make it happen.

Carolina brought me a lot of relationships that I am thankful

Coach Davis off of that list. I could go on for days talking about

for but the one that I was able to develop with Coach Davis is

ever met.

anything that he does for me but just because of who he is as a

HD but to put it simply, he is the most genuine person that I’ve You don’t have to be around him a long time to know what

kind of person he is and the energy that he brings to a room.

one of the more special ones, not because he offers to help or person.

He’s someone who everyone would love to have in their

During my career he was a constant source of encouragement

corner. Because no matter what, he just wants the best for you.

court, I always knew that his office would be open and he was

that he does, because I have seen him year after year take the

and support, and it didn’t matter how I was performing on the

willing to talk to me about whatever, for however long I needed.

That kind of support is what gave me the room that I needed to grow on the court throughout my career.

As much as he is kind and as generous as they come, he is

also just as fierce of a competitor as they come, but the impact that he’s had on me goes far, far beyond the basketball court. The

I can’t speak enough about how genuine he is with everything time to build relationships with everyone that comes in. That’s how I know that he cares, because I’ve seen it in action. I will

always cherish the relationship that I’ve been able to build with Coach Davis and I couldn’t be more excited that he is the guy that’s taking over to lead Carolina Basketball.

biggest thing that I will forever be thankful for is the example

that he set as a believer in Christ. He not only guided me with his

words or Bible studies but more so with the way that he lived his life on a daily basis.

Coach Davis just loves people

and he proves it every single around him. To this day, every

talk to him, he asks me if there

that he can do for me, and I

there is anything that I ask of him, he

and he genuinely cares

KENNY WILLIAMS Men’s Basketball

day that we’re time is

that

I

anything

know that if

will do

“

“Coach Davis just loves people and he genuinely cares and he proves it every single day that we’re around him. To this day, every time that I talk to him, he asks me if there is anything that he can do for me, and I know that if there is anything that I ask of him, he will do everything in his power to make it happen.”

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Illustration by Jason McCorkle

CAROLINA INSIDER PODCAST HOSTED BY JONES ANGELL AND ADAM LUCAS

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