North Carolina men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis said that “nothing” about being a head coach since taking over for Roy Williams in April has been hard.
It sure has been fast though.
“I don’t have any brakes, there are no brakes, it’s all gas pedal since April,” Davis said. “It’s been push the gas pedal all the way down to the floor.”
Davis met with reporters on a video conference on Tuesday for the first time as head coach. He covered a variety of topics including the transfers, what Late Night might look like and just how hectic the change has been.
He said he gets asked all the time what has been the difference between being an assistant, where he served on Williams’ staff for nine years, and now being the head coach.
“As an assistant coach, all day long, you’re just making suggestions,” Davis said. “’What about this? Do you want to do this?’ As a head coach, you’re not making suggestions you’re making decisions. And that’s the biggest difference. Nothing about being head coach the last five months has been hard. It’s been an adjustment, but it’s been a great adjustment.”
Part of the sense of urgency Davis had was caused by a need to fill out the roster — especially in the frontcourt. Forward Day’Ron Sharpe declared for the NBA draft and the Brooklyn Nets traded to acquire him after being picked in the first round. Forward Walker Kessler transferred to Auburn despite Davis’ publicly announcing at his introductory press conference that he’d attempt to get Kessler to stay. And forward Garrison Brooks used his super senior year to transfer to Mississippi State.
Davis signed transfers Brady Manek (Oklahoma), Justin McKoy (Virginia), and Dawson Garcia (Marquette) to fill the void in the frontcourt and in doing so, signaled a bit of what will be his style too. All three big men can shoot from the perimeter and he indicated returning forward Armando Bacot has put in work to be able to step outside too.
Davis was just as proud to see how they meshed with the returning players as he was to see how they’re going to open up the floor with their shooting.
“It’s important for us not only bring in talented guys, but guys that are gonna fit our program, our culture,” Davis said. “So when people talk about Justin and Brady and Dawson, they’re Carolina guys. I mean they just got here this summer, but I feel like they’ve been here three or four years they way that they have meshed with our other teammates, our staff, this university.”
Davis and his staff were able to make pretty strong inroads on the recruiting trail this summer. Carolina picked up commitments from 6-foot-9 forward Jalen Washington, who is ranked 18th nationally in the 247 Sports composite; 6-foot-3 guard Seth Trimble, the younger brother of former UNC wing J.P. Tokoto; and 6-foot-9 forward Will Shaver from Birmingham.
Along with being back on the road recruiting a year after the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the summer basketball circuit, Davis has had his share of speaking engagements. One appearance was a visit with Mack Brown and Carolina’s football team. Davis said the two became close when Brown was at Texas at would leave him tickets while he played for the Dallas Mavericks.
Davis said Brown was, “helping me and he doesn’t even know he’s helping me,” after quickly adapting one of Brown’s coaching philosophies and applying it to basketball.
“Our practices will be designed to condition you during practice, if you go 100 percent In practice, I’ll never run you sprints after practices,” Davis said. “All the guys were like, ‘Hey this is awesome, where’d you get this from?’ I said I got this from coach Brown.”
Davis listens to experience. It’s why he said Jeff Lebo was his first call to be an assistant coach. Lebo, who was a senior guard for the Heels when Davis was a freshman, was a head coach at four stops including Auburn and East Carolina. Davis said it was important for him to have someone on the staff that had “been there before.”
“He brings things to me that I don’t see and the reason why he can do that is because there’s a huge difference just moving over one seat,” Davis said. “His suggestions, his take on different things and responsibilities that I have as a head coach is so valuable. I wouldn’t be able to do this job without Coach Lebo and I’m so glad that Jeff is here.”