After much speculation, North Carolina has announced that Hubert Davis will not return as the Tar Heels’ head men’s basketball coach. Davis went 125-54 overall and went to four NCAA Tournaments, but ultimately fell short of the enormous expectations of a job like UNC.
“We appreciate all that Hubert has done for Carolina as a player, assistant coach, head coach and community leader – he has helped make special memories we will never forget,” AD Bubba Cunningham said. “This was not an easy decision because of Hubert’s tremendous character and all he has given to the program, but we must move forward in a way that allows our team to compete more consistently at an elite level.”
Davis is a former Tar Heel player who enjoyed a long NBA career before initially moving into television broadcasting. He returned to Chapel Hill in 2012 after five years with ESPN to be an assistant coach under Roy Williams and remained in that role for the next nine seasons. He earned a National Championship with the Heels in 2017 and was part of eight NCAA Tournaments and three ACC titles.
He was elevated to head coach in 2021 after Williams announced his retirement and, despite an up-and-down regular season, led the 8-seed Tar Heels all the way to the National Championship game. The Heels held a 15-point halftime lead over Kansas in the title game but ultimately ran out of steam and lost the game.
They entered the 2022-23 season as the preseason AP #1 team, but struggled throughout the year and earned the unfortunate distinction of being the first preseason #1 team to miss the NCAA Tournament since the field expanded in 1985.
Davis and the Tar Heels bounced back the following year, winning an outright ACC title and reaching the Sweet 16. But over the past two years they have gone a combined 47-23 (25-13) and have been bounced in the first round in two-straight NCAA Tournaments, including an upset by 11-seed VCU last week.
The search for his replacement will be a major storyline in college basketball over the coming weeks and we will likely see some big names thrown around, much like the Kentucky search two years ago.