The North Carolina Tar Heels have finally done the inevitable with Hubert Davis.
UNC has decided not to bring back Davis as the head coach of their men’s basketball team, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported on Tuesday. The news ends Davis’ time in charge of the Tar Heels after five total seasons.
Davis, a notable North Carolina alum, was hired as head coach of the men’s basketball program in 2021, succeeding legendary UNC coach Roy Williams. While Davis took the Tar Heels all the way to the NCAA Tournament title game during his first season in charge, the rest of his time as head coach was far less memorable.
Other than an ACC regular season title and Sweet 16 berth in 2023-24, Davis earned no other accolades of note during his remaining four seasons at North Carolina. He failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament altogether in 2022-23 and then submitted back-to-back Round of 64 exits to close out his time in Chapel Hill.
This season was particularly embarrassing for Davis as well. After going 24-7 through regular season play, North Carolina lost in the first round of the ACC Tournament to Clemson. They then got upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by No. 11 seed VCU after blowing a 19-point lead (leading to Davis receiving some cruel memes online).
It looked like the writing had been on the wall with Davis’ future for the last several days. Now the Tar Heels will have to decide on Davis’ replacement, and one big-name head coach is already being favored to land the job.
