This Just In — the same geniuses that gave us an overpriced, overrated former NFL coach who delivered a train wreck year of Carolina football have now brought UNC’s world class basketball program to the post-Hubert Davis era.
Coach Davis doesn’t exactly need my good luck wishes. He’s a talented coach. By all accounts, he’s an utterly fine, decent person of substantial character, committed to the well-being of his players and employees. As we look forward to Saturday’s No Kings demonstrations, I have to point out that Coach Davis has demonstrated more character and leadership in a few days than our current president has across his adult life.
But I digress.
Perhaps Coach Davis has a few extra minutes on his hands this week, will read this tribute and have a Tom Sawyer moment. I’ll just mention here a couple of things that I’m taking away from the Davis era.
In his first year as head coach, Davis’s Tar Heels swept Duke. This should have been the basis for a 10 year contract. Missed opportunity, Carolina. This brought Coach K to apologize to those attending his last game a Cameron Indoor. He apologized not for bad behavior, not for anything other than for losing. He should have congratulated Davis for his Rookie beat down, but instead focused on his own disappointment. Davis’s grace in that situation (and too many others to list) was exceptional. In that first year and after beating Duke in the semi-final game of the championship, Carolina finished the season as runner-up in the championship. Ask any UNC fan (or Franklin Street bar owner) if they gave a flying fig about that last loss. In his second year, Davis’s Heels came into the season ranked #1 and made clear that any team is subject to the magic of chemistry (or its lack). UNC declined an invitation to the NIT that year. Coach Davis knew that the best thing for that season was to end it. Many coaches might have insisted on going forward to find redemption. Declining that invite was a mature decision, reflecting what UNC expects of this program.To be sure, that very expectation was not met this year with Carolina’s disappointing loss in the first round of the tournament, but I’ve always thought that our program was so much bigger than a win-loss record. I’ve taken pride in the players’ graduation rates and the gold standard reputation that UNC has for how the program has been run.
When controversy has found Carolina, we expect … no … we demand that the university greet that with integrity, and reform that’s called for to restore confidence in the program.
Now, however, we have a very different environment in college basketball with pressures year-to-year and even within a single season that Coaches Smith and Williams never had to face. If a 19-year-old player isn’t getting the amount of playing time that he thinks he should get or isn’t earning what he thinks he should for his Name, Image and Likeness he can skip out to a better deal elsewhere without concern for his eligibility.
The fate of your team (and perhaps your own job) can hang on the decision of a teenager. To be clear, that’s not quite what happened here, but it’s related. College basketball is losing its relationship to college.
For my two cents, I’d like to see the NCAA fix that, making it hurt a little for a player to jump ship. I’d like to see the top tier schools convene an expert panel to make recommendations that will put the “college” back in “college basketball” … including the repayment of scholarships for students who play for a year, then turn pro. The “one and done” culture hurts the continuity of programs and insults students and alumni.
So for Coach Davis, I’m glad that he at least got his $5 million so he can take his sweet time picking his next opportunity. I hope he stays in our community and will look forward to the cameras finding him sitting next to Coach Williams at some future games, perhaps talking about golf. All good wishes to him and his family.
For the Sweet 16 Tar Heel women’s team that’s going to go up against the UConn buzz saw tomorrow night, I will just say … there’s a reason you play the game.
Go Heels!
(featured image via Todd Melet)
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – [email protected] and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
This Just In: Good Luck, Coach Chapelboro.com.
Hence then, the article about this just in good luck coach was published today ( ) and is available on chapelboro ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( This Just In: Good Luck, Coach )
Also on site :
- The Iran War Hits Your Pocket
- Fall 2026 TV: The Ultimate Return Guide for Every Cop, Medical and Legal Drama
- Germany warns of world economic ‘catastrophe’; OECD cuts UK growth forecast