UNC men’s basketball head coach Hubert Davis met with the media for his first offseason press conference on Thursday. Davis discussed several topics, including the construction of this year’s team, the large class of newcomers, the leadership of returning members and additions to the coaching staff. Check out highlights from Davis’ comments below!
On team-building during the offseason: I love this group. We’ve been together all summer; individual workouts, summer practices, breakfasts, lunches, dinners. I tell everybody: in order to play for me, the biggest thing for me is relationships. You can’t play for me unless you know me, and I can’t coach you unless I know you. We’re just spending a lot of time together getting to know each other and building those relationships. When you have those relationships, building chemistry on the basketball court is the easy part.
On the team’s new transfers: Cormac [Ryan from Notre Dame], he’s a playmaker. He’s a guy that can make plays off the bounce. He’s a basketball player. He’s an incredible defender. A guy that competes on the defensive end. And probably the biggest area that I didn’t know is what kind of leader he is. He’s a gatherer. He’s just a vocal leader in the locker room, on the court, off the court. He just brings teammates together. With him, this being his last year in college, there’s a sense of urgency in him for this thing to work out.
Jae’Lyn Withers [from Louisville], he’s somebody that I liked even coming out of high school. I’ve always been a big fan of his. You can ask assistant coaches; every time that we played Louisville, the one person that I was worried about was him. Because of his size and his athleticism, he can score inside, he can run the floor and rebound, he can shoot the ball from three. Defensively, he can guard one through five. Just having him around and his personality, he’s such a team guy. Always laughing. Always wanting to have fun.
I’ve been blown away by Paxson [Wojcik from Brown]. His ability to gather teammates and bring guys together has been unbelievable. All these older guys, they’ll take Zayden [High] and Elliot [Cadeau] and say, ‘Let’s go to lunch.’
[Harrison Ingram from Stanford] has tremendous size, versatility. He can play a number of different positions. He can handle the ball, he can pass, he can shoot. He can post up, he’s really physical and can defend, whether it’s in the post or out on the perimeter. It’s nice to have somebody with that size and that type of skill level and athleticism that can do a number of things out on the floor. He was a big-time player in the Pac-12. I’m really excited that Harrison is here now.
Note: West Virginia transfer James Okonkwo has not yet signed with the Tar Heels, so Davis wasn’t able to discuss his potential addition on Thursday.
On how the team has improved from last season: There were a number of things that we needed to address and get better from last year. Last year, we weren’t a very good outside shooting team. There’s 15 teams in the ACC, and we were 15th in three-point shooting percentage. The team that we have now, I think we’re a better shooting team. I didn’t think last year we were very good in terms of ball movement and sharing the basketball. Out of 15 teams in the ACC, we were 14th in team assists. I feel like we have multiple playmakers now that can make plays for themselves, but also make plays for their teammates. I really like the mix and the combinations of this team. I know it’s really early, but there’s a lot of versatility. And that’s something that I’m really excited about.
On how the reclassification of freshman guard Elliot Cadeau came together: Well one, we had an available scholarship. In terms of Elliot, he was always in our conversation and recruitment of him as being a part of the ’24 class. I know that his experience of playing for the Swedish national team, he played extremely well. He ended up winning the GEICO Championship with Link Academy. And it changed his thinking. He also had a desire to be here. He’s such a team guy. He just wants to win, wants to be a great teammate. I’m thankful that he’s here at Carolina.
On the leadership of returning starters R.J. Davis and Armando Bacot: When you have leadership like R.J., when you have leadership like Armando that have been here before and have experienced the highs and lows, they have done an unbelievable job of just creating a team, and getting the new guys — not just the freshmen but also the transfers — acclimated to what this program is about and what our team is gonna be about. That came naturally. It just did. That wasn’t something that I met with R.J. or Armando or anybody about. This is something that they took personally for themselves. I’m really proud of R.J. and I’m really proud of Armando. This team is together because of those two guys.
Both of those guys, they’re both Carolina guys. They love it here. It gives me hope that talented guys have a desire to still stay here and to be here, because they believe in this place. Having guys like R.J. and Armando, specifically for those two, even as an assistant coach I was the lead recruiter for them. I’ve known them even longer. So to have those types of relationships and to have them still here and having an opportunity to coach them and be around them every day is a real blessing and an honor. And it’s something that a lot of coaches don’t get an opportunity and a chance to be able to experience.
On the addition of Marcus Paige to the coaching staff: Not only was he great on the court, he was at the top academically and being a leader, and being that person off the court that represented not only our team, but our university and our program at the highest level. Why wouldn’t you want to have a guy like that around every day? We had some discussions last season that this might be his last year of playing professionally. I asked him, ‘What would you think about doing if you were to retire?’ And one of the things he said was he’d love to get into coaching and he’d love to come back here. I just love having Marcus here. He was an extension of Coach Williams, so him being a coach is not a far stretch.
On what he has learned since becoming head coach: I’m always learning. I’m always in a position of listening and learning. I’ve never — whether as a player, or working for ESPN or as an assistant coach — felt like ‘I’ve got it.’ You can always get better and always learn. I know that I’m a better coach this year compared to last year, because I’ve been doing it longer. The more that you do it, the more you get comfortable. You recognize things that you like. That comes with experience. It’s been a great summer for me as a coach, and I’m really excited about this coming season.
Featured image via Associated Press/Timothy B. Easley
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 biweekly newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines