Hubert Davis
Hubert Ira Davis Jr. (born May 17, 1970) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's team. Before his coaching career, Davis played for North Carolina from 1988–1992 and in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, and New Jersey Nets from 1992 to 2004. He is the nephew of Walter Davis, another former Tar Heel and NBA player. Davis served as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 2012 until  his elevation to head coach in 2021 following the retirement of Roy Williams. Early life and education. Davis attended Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia, averaging 28.0 points per game his senior year. He attended the same high school as future Tar Heel women's soccer great and Olympic medalist Mia Hamm. He went on to the University of North Carolina, where he holds the record for the highest career three-point percentage in school history. In his junior year, he helped lead the team to its first Final Four appearance since winning the national championship in 1982. Davis  graduated in 1992 with a degree in Criminal Justice, after averaging 21.4 points per game in his senior season. NBA career. The New York Knicks selected Davis with the 20th overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. He made the winning free throws after Hue Hollins called a disputed foul against Scottie Pippen in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Chicago Bulls, giving the Knicks an 87–86 win. Davis remained with New York for four years, and was traded to the Toronto Raptors before the 1996–97 season. After Toronto, Davis spent time with the Dallas Mavericks , Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, and New Jersey Nets. Davis played his final NBA game in 2004, finishing with career averages of 8.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Davis's nearly 44.1% NBA career three-point shot percentage ranks him second behind Steve Kerr. Sports analyst. Following his playing career, Davis began working for ESPN as a college basketball analyst in the 2007–2008 season. During his time at ESPN, he served as a studio analyst for the network's coverage of college basketball and was a panelist on "College Gameday". He left ESPN to return to Chapel Hill  as an assistant coach following the 2011–2012 season. Coaching career. North Carolina assistant coach. Prior to the 2012–2013 season, UNC head coach Roy Williams hired Davis as an assistant. Davis also served as head coach of UNC's junior varsity basketball team, one of the only junior varsity teams remaining in college basketball. UNC's junior varsity program is a long-standing program tradition, and several former JV players have gone on to be walk-ons for the varsity team. Davis was on the bench for the Tar Heels 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament run that concluded with a  71–65 win over Gonzaga in the National Championship game. North Carolina head coach. Roy Williams retired on April 1, 2021 after 18 years as head coach of UNC. Four days later, on April 5, Davis was announced as the 19th head coach in program history, and the first African-American to lead the program. Although Davis had never been a head coach at any level, Williams had been grooming him for a head coaching job much in the same way that Dean Smith had mentored Williams during Williams' time on the UNC bench as an assistant from 1978 to 1988 . Davis recorded his first win in his first game as Tar Heel head coach. The Tar Heels beat Loyola (MD) 83–67 at home in the Dean Smith Center to open the season. On February 21, 2022, Davis's Tar Heels defeated Louisville to give the first-year head coach his 20th victory of the year. Davis became the fourth ACC head coach to win twenty games in his debut season in the past twenty-five years with the victory. Previous Tar Heel coaches Matt Doherty (2000–01), and Bill Guthridge (1997–98) are two of the other three coaches to reach the  twenty-win mark in their debut seasons, winning 26 and 34 games respectively. Davis's Tar Heels capped off a 23–8 regular season with a 94–81 victory over Duke in Mike Krzyzewski's final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Davis's Tar Heels went 1–1 in his first ACC Tournament as a head coach, and earned an 8 seed (East region) in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. After cruising to a 95–63 win over 9-seed Marquette in the first round, the Tar Heels upset the East's number one seed, the Baylor Bears, in the second round. The Tar  Heels hung on and won the game 93–86 in overtime after losing a 25-point second-half lead. The victory secured Davis's first sweet sixteen berth as a head coach and the school's 30th overall, the most by any program in Division I history. After a 73–66 victory over 4-seed UCLA Bruins in the Sweet Sixteen, Davis and his Tar Heels advanced to the Elite Eight and defeated the St. Peter’s Peacocks 69–49 to earn a trip to the Final Four. In their national semifinal game versus rival Duke, the Tar Heels would defeat the Blue  Devils 81-77 in coach Mike Krzyzewski's final game. Davis and Carolina were eventually defeated in the National Championship game by Kansas by a score of 72-69. In his first season, Davis became one of the few college basketball players to have gone to a Final Four as a starter (1991), as an assistant coach (2016 and 2017), and as a head coach (2022). Personal life. Davis and his wife Leslie have three children: Elijah, Bobbie Grace and Micah. As of the 2021–22 season, Elijah plays college basketball for the University of Lynchburg. At the press conference announcing  his hiring as the UNC basketball coach, when asked about being the first black UNC head coach, Davis caused public debate by stating he's proud to be African-American but also proud that his wife is white. Davis is a devout Christian.