Obviously ... as a North Carolina fan ... I am not happy at the state of the men's basketball program. Right now the Tar Heels are 16-11 and are more than likely going to miss the NCAA Tournament once again. That would be the second time in three years UNC will miss the Big Dance, which is epically bad for a program of this stature. That hasn't happened since the 2002 and 2003 tournaments which saw Matt Doherty get fired.
Head coach Hubert Davis has been a mixed bag. Some of it is on him, and some of it is on university, and some of it is on the fact that he got his start college athletics during a volatile time. The facts are that Davis is 94-42 in four seasons as head coach (as of February 20th), with a 7-2 record in NCAA tournament games. He may miss the tournament for the second time in those four seasons, but in the seasons he reached the tournament was a No. 1 seed once and reached the national championship game in the other. He has hit on some great transfers (Brady Manek, Harrison Ingram) and has missed on others (Pete Nance, Cade Tyson). He has done a fine job in recruiting high school kids, but has struggled to land key transfer portal targets (which may have more to do with UNC's lack of aggressiveness with NIL). He's won the ACC's Coach of the Year award, but many have questioned his ability to use his rosters properly and his coaching philosophies.
It's hard to figure out if Hubert really is the right guy for the job. When the team has struggled like it has this season, there are calls to remove him and go in a different direction.
On one hand, he's the nicest guy you will ever meet, bleeds Carolina blue, and had a decent NBA career despite not being a big time prospect coming out of high school. Recruits and their parents love him and the family atmosphere he continues at UNC. He's highly competitive and passionate about his players and the university. On the other, this is the third season the Heels have lost at least 10 games in his four years as head coach. This roster is the most imbalanced it has been in ages. It wasn't as if didn't try to land the best bigs in the portal ... he just couldn't close the deal (again, that may be a bit on the NIL side of things).
The 2023 season was a disaster and an embarrassing moment in Carolina hoops history. The core of the team that nearly won the national championship was ranked No. 1 in the preseason, yet infighting and ugly play took the Heels out of the NCAA tournament -- becoming the first preseason No. 1 team to miss the tournament in the modern era. He followed that up with an ACC regular season championship last year and a No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Heels fell short to Alabama in the Sweet 16, but if felt that Hubert righted the ship. That the stink from 2023 season seemed to go away with a team fans adored; R.J. Davis was the ACC Player of the Year, Armando Bacot set program records, Harrison Ingram's smile and Swiss Army knife play electrified fans and the team looked like it was back as an elite program.
That's all gone away this year. Again, the roster lacks bigs which has thrown the team and fans' expectations way out of whack. It could be argued that the five best players on this team are all guards or wings (R.J. Davis, Elliott Cadeau, Ian Jackson, Drake Powell, Seth Trimble). Jackson and Powell could be one-and-done freshman, but the transfer portal has been a nightmare. Hubert missed out on several high profile bigs who had UNC on their short lists, plus their primary catch (Tyson) has been a dud. Ven-Allen Lubin has been okay, he's not a traditional center and third year big man Jalen Washington hasn't taken as big of a jump as they needed. What you have is a perimeter oriented team who has no post presence, no shot blockers, and not the rebounding studs they've typically been. If you are going to be a guard dominated team, you can't turn the ball over the way this team does and you need to be a less streaky shooting squad. This team lacks any room for error and is extremely limited to what it can do.
That brings us to Hubert.
What is wrong with him? Is he unable to coach? He was the Coach of the Year last season and was able to adapt his team in 2022 to make a late season run to the title game. He certainly can recruit high school talent -- I mentioned that Jackson and Powell could be first round picks this year and elite prospect Caleb Wilson is coming next season. There's more than enough talent ... even with this flawed roster ... to miss another NCAA tournament.
As I said, I'm not happy with where we are at. But I will say this: if Hubert Davis actually does go out and get a GM for the basketball program (he said they'd hire one soon) then I do believe he deserves at least one more season to see this through. While it is commendable for Hubert to lean into the Carolina Family and the way the program has successfully operated for decades, he also must realize that those things don't lock down recruits anymore. The fact that Bill Belichick is now the head coach of the football team should bring the university and other athletic programs to the realization that you have to pay to play at an elite level now. Programs are built like professional organizations now and that having financial opportunities to lure talent to your team is the way you do business. Again, Hubert has done okay with acquiring some talent, but you need a guy running your operations while you coach your team.
I would like to see how that would look like. I think Hubert deserves that chance to show us. I'm all for that, but that also means I want to see results.
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