Hubert Ira Davis Jr. (born on the 17th of May 1970) is an American college basketball coach. He is Head Coach of North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball team. Prior to beginning his coach career Davis had played in the NBA for North Carolina from 1988 to 1992 and also in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons as well as the New Jersey Nets from 1992 until 2004. He is the son to Walter Davis, another former Tar Heel and NBA player.
Davis was an assistant coach with the Tar Heels from 2012 until his appointment as head coach in 2021 after Roy Williams’ retirement. Roy Williams.
Education and early life
Davis was a student at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia, averaging 28.0 points per game in his senior year. He was in that same high school that was home to future Tar Heel women’s soccer great and Olympic medalist Mia Hamm. He then attended University of North Carolina. University of North Carolina, where he holds the record for having the highest three-point percentage of his career in the history of the school. In his junior year, Davis was instrumental in guiding his team towards its very the first Final Four appearance since winning the national championship in 1982. Davis graduated in 1992 with a an education in Criminal Justice, after averaging 21.4 points per game during his final season.
NBA career
The New York Knicks selected Davis with the 20th pick at the time of the 1992 NBA Draft. Davis made the winning free throws following Hue Hollins ruled a disputed foul on Scottie Pippen in the fifth game of 1994’s Eastern Conference semifinals against the Chicago Bulls, giving the Knicks victory 87-86.
Davis was with New York during four seasons before being transferred with Toronto in the Toronto Raptors before the 1996-97 season. Following Toronto, Davis spent time playing for the Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, and New Jersey Nets. Davis played his last NBA game in the year 2004, and finished his career with an average that included 8.2 per game, 1.5 rebounding in addition to 1.7 assists per game. Davis’s 44.1 percent NBA 3-point shot percentage places him just behind Steve Kerr.
Sports analyst
Davis in during an ESPN College GameDay broadcast in 2008
After his playing profession, Davis began working for ESPN as an analyst for college basketball during the season 2007/2008. While at ESPN was he worked as an analyst in the studio to help with the broadcast’s covering of the college basketball season. He also served as an expert panelist on College Gameday. He was fired by ESPN for the chance to go back the team to Chapel Hill as an assistant coach after the season of 2011-2012.
Coaching profession
North Carolina assistant coach
Before the 2012-2013 basketball campaign, UNC head coach Roy Williams hired Davis as an assistant coach. Davis was hired as an assistant coach. Davis was also the head coach of the UNC junior varsity basketball team which is one of the few junior varsity teams still in the college basketball. The junior varsity team at UNC has been a tradition for the past few years with many former players from the JV program are now walk-ons on the team’s varsity.
Davis was in the bench during his part in the Tar Heels 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament that ended by winning 71-65 against Gonzaga at Gonzaga’s National Championship game.
North Carolina head coach
In the event that Roy Williams retired on April 1st 2021, the search to find who would be the new head coach of Carolina basketball started. A few days later on April 5th, Davis was announced as the 19th head coach in the program’s history, and also the first African-American to head the team. Even though Davis was never an director at any degree, Williams had been grooming Davis to be a head coach job as Dean Smith had mentored Williams during Williams his time in his UNC bench , as an assistant coach from 1978 until 1988.
Davis scored his first win on his very first day in his first game as Tar Heel head coach. In the first game, Davis’s Tar Heels beat Loyola (MD) at home 83-67 in the Dean Smith Center to open the season. 6 On February 21st 20, 2022 Davis’ Tar Heels defeated Louisville to make it his 20th win of the season. Davis was the 4th ACC director to be able to claim a total of twenty games in his first season in the past 25 years, with this victory. Previous Tar Heel coaches Matt Doherty (2000-01) along with Bill Guthridge (1997-98) are three of the other coaches who have reached the 20-win mark in their inaugural seasons having won between 26 and 34 games. Davis’s Tar Heels capped off a 23-8 regular season with a 94-81 win against Duke at Mike Krzyzewski’s last in his home at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Davis’s Tar Heels were a -1 team in the team’s inaugural ACC Tournament as a head coach. The team also secured an eight place (East region) for the 2022 NCAA Tournament. After scoring 95-63 victory over 9 seed Marquette in the opening round and then the Tar Heels upset the East’s first seed and The Baylor Bears, in the second round. It was a close game as the Tar Heels hung on and beat the Bears by 93-86, despite losing a 25-point advantage in the second quarter. The victory earned Davis’s first sweet 16 spot as head coach and the school’s record of 30th overall, which is the most of any team throughout Division I history. After a 73-66 win over the four seeded 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 in order to advance towards the Final Four. The national semi-final match against the rival Duke in the semifinals, they Tar Heels would defeat the Blue Devils 81-77 in coach Mike Krzyzewski’s last game. The Tar Heels, Davis went to the Final Four as a starter (1991) in the role of assistant coach (2016 and the year 2017) and then as the director of the team (2022).
Personal life
Davis along with his partner Leslie has three daughters: Elijah, Bobbie Grace, and Micah. For the 2021-22 year, Elijah plays college basketball for the University of Lynchburg. 9. In the press conference that announced his appointment as the UNC basketball coach when asked about being one of the very first African-Americans to be the UNC Head Coach, Davis caused public debate in which he stated he’s proud to be an African American, but happy that his wife is white. 10. Davis is a fervent Christian.
