The Hubert Davis era in Chapel Hill is over after days of speculation about his future. The decision to part ways comes after the Tar Heels blew a 19-point lead against VCU to get bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the Round of 64. Rumors that Davis would not be head coach for the upcoming year started nearly immediately with reports of internal meetings and concerns from boosters about the state of the program.
Davis’ tenure as head coach started off as strong as humanly possible. He notched big
wins over Duke in Coach K’s last game in Cameron and again in the Final Four. Looking back, the big blown lead in the national championship game against Kansas was maybe a bigger sign of trouble than we knew at the time. It is a problem that would come up several more times in the years since. The very next year Carolina came into the season ranked #1 before failing to make the tournament. The Tar Heels either did not make the tournament or didn’t make it past the Round of 64 in three of Davis’ five seasons at the helm.
UNC will now turn their attention to finding a new head coach that will hopefully be able to get the program back to the levels expected of Carolina Basketball. It will undoubtedly be an attractive opening for coaches who may be looking for a change of scenery. Hopefully Bubba Cunningham and Steve Newmark will be able to make a hire on the merits without interference from meddling Board of Trustee members in order to land the best candidate for the job. With no good options to turn to when it comes to former players in the coaching tree, it’s a near certainty that the new hire will come from outside the Carolina Family.
The transfer portal opens on April 7th.
