North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis has endured rumors of his coaching future as the leader of the UNC program during a disappointing 2024-25 campaign. The coach he replaced, the legendary Roy Williams, voiced his opinion on how he felt about the rumors, displaying support for his successor.
Legendary North Carolina Coach Roy Williams Vouches for Current HC Hubert Davis
Amid a relatively tough season for the Tar Heels, rumors of head Davis’ job security have spread across college basketball.
Davis was named the head coach in 2021 following the retirement of the previous head coach, Williams. Being the successor to one of the greatest coaches in college basketball is never easy.
Williams is a coaching legend in Chapel Hill and the entire college basketball landscape. In his 18 seasons as the Tar Heels head man, he engineered three national championship runs, five Final Four appearances, and eight ACC titles.
Williams’ opinion carries a lot of weight when it comes to UNC basketball; during an appearance on the Zach Gelb Show, he shared his thought on Davis and the season the Tar Heels are having.
“Hubert Davis has more passion and more concern … than all those people [fans] put together,” Williams claimed. “He’s the right person for the job.”
Williams went on to explain how he cringes when people talk of how Davis should lose his job. After all, “His first year he played for the national championship,” the legendary coach continued. “His third year he won the regular season [championship]. There’s 811 teams in the ACC now. He won the regular season [championship] last year.
“We’ve had some tough moments this year, there’s no question about that, but the seasons not over. I think we’re gonna make a run here, and I would love for it to turn 180 degrees so I could look at all those suckers and tell them to shut up.”
Recency bias is a real thing, as Williams is essentially saying. Not even 365 days ago, Davis led a UNC squad to a 29-8 record, including 17-3 in conference and claiming the ACC regular-season title.
They were named a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost a thriller to a talented Alabama Crimson Tide team in the Sweet 16.
Just one season later, the Tar Heels sit in sixth place in the conference with a 17-11 overall and 10-6 ACC record.
Williams mentioned his belief that the squad will make a run — they’ve begun to do so, winning their last three games with an average margin of victory of 15 points.
They’re still expected to have an uphill battle in terms of hearing their name called on Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament. But the chances are better now than they were a month ago, when they looked to be dead in the water.
Four regular-season games remain, with the Tar Heels expected to be favored in their next three before hosting the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils to finish the regular-season. That’s a huge opportunity to stamp their ticket to the Big Dance.
If they can’t do that, they’ll have to win at least multiple games in the ACC tournament to be considered for the Tournament.
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If they can do so, Williams will be proven correct, and Davis will be validated, removing his name from any rumors after a late-season rally.
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