North Carolina has appointed UNC assistant coach Hubert Davis to replace Roy Williams as the next men’s basketball coach, the school announced Monday afternoon. Davis (50) was a star guard for the Tar Heels under Dean Smith from 1988 to 1992 before a long career in the NBA. He has spent the past nine seasons as an assistant to the Tar Heels.
Williams announced his retirement last week after 18 seasons leading the program. UNC has won three national titles under Williams, and Davis was on the bench for the most recent title in 2017. As a former Carolina player and current assistant, Davis is expected to be one of the best candidates for the position once Williams, 70, retired.
UNC made three Sweet 16s and a Final Four during his playing career, and his association with Smith and Williams makes him a certified member of the “Carolina family.”
Davis was heavily involved in recruiting, banking coaching and exploration during his time with the UNC staff after working in an analyst role at ESPN for seven years before joining the coaching ranks. As a 6-foot-5 guard, he was known for three-point shooting during his playing career and transferred the skill into an NBA career with the Knicks, Raptors, Mavericks, Wizards, Mavericks and Nets running from 1992 to 2004.
It is also expected that Wes Miller, coach of UNC Greensboro, who is also a former UNC player, will be considered for the position. However, Tar Heels athletic director Bubba Cunningham said it ‘is not the only factor in making a decision like this to keep the job within the university’.
But Cunningham also said he wants the search to go ‘as fast as we can’, and replacing Davis to replace Williams will provide a sense of continuity for a program with a talented list and what only four years removed from a national title.