WATCH: Hubert Davis 'excited' for first game as North Carolina coach
A new era is about to get underway in Chapel Hill. Following longtime basketball head coach Roy Williams’ retirement in the offseason, Hubert Davis is entering his first season as head coach of North Carolina.
Davis is no stranger to North Carolina, but when the Tar Heels take the court to start the season, he will be making his debut as a head coach. He played for the Tar Heels before moving on to the NBA. Following his NBA career, Davis began working for ESPN as a college basketball analyst in 2008. In 2012, he returned to be an assistant coach under Roy Williams, and now he is the man to replace Williams as head coach.
“I’m really excited for our guys to play,” Davis said. “It’s a situation where our guys have worked extremely hard. I know the hard work that each individual player has put in throughout the summer. I know how hard our guys have practiced in practice to be in this position to possibly reach all of our team goals.
“As I said before, it’s plain and simple and clear. We want to win the regular season ACC title, the tournament title, we want to get to a Final Four and we want to win a national championship. In order to do that, every day we’ve got to put ourselves in a position to be able to possibly make that happen.”
Davis: ‘I’m excited’ to be North Carolina’s head coach
The path to becoming North Carolina’s head coach for Davis is very similar to that of Williams. Williams was an assistant under Dean Smith for ten years. Smith groomed Williams to become the next head coach. And now, right around ten years after Davis came back to North Carolina under Williams, be begins his journey as head coach.
Davis is excited to begin the season and start the new era of North Carolina basketball.
“So walking through that tunnel and having that opportunity to be their head coach out there tomorrow night, I’m just so excited to be there with them. I’m so excited to walk through that tunnel and I’m so excited to be their head coach.”
The Tar Heels came in at third in the Preseason ACC Poll and 19th in the Preseason AP Top 25. North Carolina’s season gets underway on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET against Loyola (MD). Last season, the Tar Heels finished 18-11 after falling to Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projects the Tar Heels as a six seed in this year’s tournament.