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Caleb Love and R.J. Davis are still competing.
They came to Carolina in the summer of 2000 and began as the scorer and the playmaker. They started 36 of their 58 games as freshmen, playing in mostly empty gyms during the 2020-21 COVID season.
They did sweep a mediocre Duke team and got into the NCAA tournament, where Roy Williams lost the first opening-round game of his career in a blowout to Wisconsin. It was also Roy’s swan song as he retired on April 1 and was succeeded by assistant coach Hubert Davis.
Caleb and R.J. took over the Tar Heels’ backcourt and led a streaky team back to the Big Dance by upsetting Duke in Mike Krzyzewski’s last home game. Love became a folk hero to UNC fans by getting hot in the tournament, and his long bombs against UCLA and Duke sent those iconic programs home and ended Coach K’s career at the 2022 Final Four.
The Heels were the preseason No. 1 ranked team in 2022-23 but missed an NCAA bid. Love lost his game trying to do too much and R.J. had a good shooting season, but at times they appeared to be competing against each other for the ball and good shots.
Carolina did not go dancing after the season, when Hubert spurned the NIT to begin revamping his roster. Love was the main casualty, transferring to Arizona where he had the two best seasons of his career, winning the Pac 12 Player of the Year and in his fifth season made all-conference for the Wildcats.
In Chapel Hill, Davis was the ACC Player of the Year in 2023-24 as one of the best guards in the country, averaging a career-high 21 points as the all-time free throw leader for the Tar Heels. He, too, took his fifth COVID season and with defenses hounding him still led UNC in scoring and 3-pointers and from the foul line he made 87 percent.
And the 23-year-olds are still competing. This time it is in the Western Conference of the NBA where R.J. has signed a two-way contract with the Lakers and Caleb with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Whether they get to play for their big teams or face each other with their G League affiliates depends on how well they do at both levels. They are allowed to spend no more than 50 days with their NBA clubs and will earn prorated salaries depending on how many games they play in the G League.
NBA teams can sign two-way contracts with no more than three players, whose goals are to convert to signing a full contract to be eligible for the playoffs. NBA teams can move the same two-way players up and down for no more than four seasons.
So, the two ex-Tar Heels will be facing off for the South Bay Lakers and the Rip City Remix or hopefully higher.
Featured image via Associated Press/John Locher
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.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.
