'I love emotion': Hubert Davis' passionate approach helped North Carolina reach national title game
NEW ORLEANS — Kansas coach Bill Self had a positive opinion of Hubert Davis long before North Carolina staged a thrilling run to the national championship game.
Self ran into Tar Heels' All-American big man Armando Bacot when both teams were in Fort Worth two weeks ago for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
"I went up to Armando and said, 'congratulations: are you having fun?' And the first thing he said: 'I love playing for Coach Davis.' That's the first thing he said to me," said Self, who had a relationship with Bacot from coaching him on the FIBA U18 team back in 2018. "So I think right there is a testament to how good (Davis) is, how special, and the relationship he has with his guys."
On April 5 of last year, Davis was named as the replacement to legendary UNC coach Roy Williams. For parts of 2021-22, it looked as if it would take time for Davis to transform the blue-blood back into a perennial power. Then the Tar Heels found another gear – starting with a March 5 road upset of rival Duke, an outcome they replicated in this Final Four to send Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski into retirement.
Davis could be cutting down the nets Monday – one day shy of his one-year anniversary on the job – with the Tar Heels squaring off with Self's No. 1-seeded Kansas Jayhawks in the national title game (9:20 p.m. ET, TBS).
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"To get them to play at that level, that game (against Duke) was a high-level game, that's about as good as you can see and his guys played with so much confidence; it's just a testament to Hubert," Self said. "They were a bubble team six weeks ago, which is incredible to me."
Davis instilled within the Tar Heels (29-9) an unyielding belief that they could win it all from Day 1. On the first day of practice, he put a picture of the Superdome in players' lockers and told them to have their parents book their trips. He'd complement that collective determination on a personal level by setting a mandate for players to regularly stop by his office so he could get to know them 1-on-1 and talk about anything but basketball.
"I would say our belief all year was strong that we can get to this point," Bacot said. "At some points, I don't know if it was belief or if it was just us being delusional."
"It just shows you how much confidence and belief (Davis) had in us at the beginning of the year," guard RJ Davis said.
Coach Davis' secret sauce? He doesn't shy away from putting emotions front and center. Often seen animated on the sidelines working NCAA officials, the 51-year-old coach said he believes playing with more of an emotional edge has been the difference in getting the No. 8-seeded Tar Heels to play their best basketball in March.
"I love emotion," Davis said. "I felt like at the beginning of the year consistently we weren't playing with emotion. And then that changed. It doesn't guarantee wins, but it does put yourself in a position to maybe do something special. That's what these kids are doing right now."
UNC breakout star Caleb Love, who had 28 points and a dagger 3-pointer with 28 seconds left in the Tar Heels' national semifinal win over Duke, has been at the epicenter of emotion for this group. Love said Davis gives him the confidence to play with the signature swagger and hunger he's shown in a brilliant NCAA Tournament, which includes a 30-point night in a Sweet 16 win over UCLA.
"He trusted and believed in me even as a freshman when he was an assistant coach," Love said. "Coach Davis would work me out before and after practice. He always watched film with me. It's amazing to have him as my head coach, trusting me and having confidence in me."
Love was seen pointing to the crowd and pounding his chest after draining back-to-back threes in the second half of the game vs. the Blue Devils. The intense outpouring of emotions signals one of several shifts in styles from Williams to Davis.
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"They're sort of the same. I feel like Coach Davis shows his passion more maybe," Love said. "Not that Roy didn't. It's just different playing styles. (Williams) liked to have two bigs. Coach Davis likes to stretch the floor with (one big man)."
Self said that dimension of having a stretch-4 is another example of Davis' mark on this Carolina team, with UNC big man Brady Manek, a 6-9 Oklahoma transfer who KU scouted as more of a post player over the past four years, being freed up to shoot more from the outside.
"Brady and Caleb are arguably (the) two best players in the tournament," Self said. "Hubert's giving him a free mind, which is why he's been able to let it fly."
Davis said he reflects back to his playing days and the 1991 Final Four when North Carolina got upset by a Williams-coached Kansas team when Dean Smith was heading the Tar Heels.
He's shared that pain with his players. "We don't want to let the same thing happen," Love said.
Follow college basketball reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.