It has been a rough couple of days for Carolina fans. The Tar Heels were once again on the bad side of history in their four-point loss to VCU, and things have been very loud ever since. A fan base that usually was pretty split on a particular topic became more and more unanimous — something has to change in Chapel Hill, and that change should almost certainly involve the removal of Hubert Davis.
Things were so loud, in fact, that a group of people started speaking out after the game that normally
do not have many super negative things to say: former players. While nobody said anything about wanting Hubert Davis fired, there is an obvious frustration with how this year went, and there were a handful of criticisms that are noteworthy.
First, though, let’s quickly share some social media reactions that were subtle but very pointed. Theo Pinson took to X to express his anger about UNC’s loss:
Next, Justin Jackson was left speechless, quite literally.
But now let’s get into the meat of how players reacted. Tar Heel legend Tyler Hansbrough told Field of 68 that he was not surprised that the Heels blew such a huge lead, and a lot of it had to do with what has happened all season long:
“I’m not stunned. We talked about it at halftime. You asked me, ‘You got to be happy.’ And I said, I’ve seen this story. I’ve seen this happen. They’ve just had some lapses in games where they just go still, offensively, defensive. Their competitiveness just kind of drops a little bit and they get content, they…they never step on anybody’s throat. When they have a team with a little bit of lead, they never step on their throat. It’s kind of been something all year, but you know the storylines and lot of people say, ‘Caleb Wilson didn’t play.’ He didn’t. I’m sick of hearing about Caleb Wilson being absent, not being able to play. The story is VCU played Carolina, not VCU played Caleb Wilson.”
Hansbrough’s comments cut deep for a handful of reasons. First, it isn’t good that one of the best players in school history is essentially calling the team soft. Second, him acknowledging that he wasn’t surprised at the historic collapse doesn’t happen unless the team has been doing something incredibly wrong all season long. Finally, his take about the Caleb Wilson situation is something that many fans have thought for a while. Yes, Wilson was out down the stretch, but this roster should’ve been more than capable of overcoming that, and for a while against VCU it looked like they were going to. But unwillingness to make adjustments, going away from what was working, and overall sloppiness doomed them once again.
Things are so bad that when Joel Berry got asked if he thought Hubert Davis was right for the job, Berry had to be very careful with his words when talking about his former assistant coach:
“My emotions are kind of mixed right now. At one point I said, ok, Coach Davis was for the job, but I’m just…I’m having a lot of mixed emotions because it’s the same old story, and as a player, as a former player, the standard hasn’t been lived up to.”
When asked if he thought Hubert Davis would be fired, he said that he didn’t think so, but he stated that he wouldn’t be surprised if it happened. He did, however, say that he didn’t think it should happen because there’s a great recruiting class coming in and that buyouts would take away from resources that could go towards next year’s roster.
While it is reasonable that Berry is thinking about how letting go of Davis would ruin the big picture of what UNC wants to do, the truth is that boosters and donors would be more than willing to pitch in to make any necessary changes to the program. The standard of Carolina Basketball isn’t being met, and people are more than willing to help eliminate any barriers in the way of meeting that standard. If Carolina can come up with the money to set on fire with the football program, surely they have more than enough to buyout Hubert Davis’ contract.
But it is clear that the frustration around the program has hit a high that we haven’t seen in quite a while. This season has felt like strike three for the Hubert Davis era, but what happens from here is unclear. What is clear, though, is that it is an awful look when your former players are getting in front of a camera and heavily criticizing the product that was rolled out onto the floor this season. Remember: even when Caleb Wilson was healthy, they lost three nonsensical games on the road to SMU, Cal, and Stanford. When someone as special as Wilson couldn’t keep you from losing against inferior competition, then why should anybody be surprised that they lost to VCU?
Nobody knows what happens from here, but one thing is clear: something needs to change, and it needs to change sooner than later.
