University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Davis Eager To Get Started
May 7, 2012 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
May 7, 2012
By Adam Lucas
Hubert Davis will be in his new Smith Center office full-time beginning this Wednesday, but he's not waiting until May 9 to get started on his duties.
The newly hired Tar Heel assistant coach, who was announced as the newest member of the staff last week, spent his weekend contacting the current Carolina players and their families, plus the departing Tar Heels who he won't get to coach. In the next few days, he'll also reach out to the incoming freshman class that will arrive for summer school next month.
"I've said this to every player already, and I'm going to say this to every player in the future and their parents," Davis said on Monday morning. "My job as a coach is to do whatever I can to help them graduate and help them become the best basketball player they can become. I want to help them, so that when they get out in the real world, they are prepared for it. That's my responsibility.
"What I'm telling them is that I need their help to do that. I need them to communicate with me on how I can help them, and then I'm going to use the basketball experience I've had at Carolina and in the NBA and on ESPN to help them the best way I can. Whether they're walking across campus or running down the court, I want them to know they have a coaching staff that is looking out for their best interests."
As Davis mentioned, he has an extensive basketball background. He played for Dean Smith at Carolina, of course, but he also played for a host of other well-known NBA coaches, including Pat Riley, Don Nelson, Jeff Van Gundy and Larry Brown. He even played one season for the Washington Wizards under current Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton.
That enables Davis to blend his well-known Carolina basketball pedigree (he received over 200 text messages on the night his hire was announced, with the vast majority coming from Tar Heels) with a mixture he's gleaned from his other stops. Three coaches are most responsible for the basketball background he will bring to the bench.
"I played for so many great coaches, and that starts with Coach Smith," he said. "I don't have time to list how many things Coach Smith taught me on and off the floor...From Pat Riley, I learned how hard you have to work, not only in practice but in the film room and weight room. Don Nelson challenged me to be a complete player, and that's a huge reason why I was able to stay in the NBA for 12 years. He didn't tell me what I wanted to hear. He gave me an honest answer."
The basketball, then, won't be much of an adjustment for someone who has spent most of his adult life around the game. But there are aspects of being a Tar Heel assistant coach that will require some adjustment.
Roy Williams has faith his newest hire will make a seamless transition. In some ways, it's similar to when Williams was recruiting Davis as a high school prospect. Williams watched Davis play high school basketball games, and even took in one of his prep football games. "Coach Williams was the one who felt I could play at Carolina with no reservations," Davis said. "Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge had some doubts."
Fast-forward over 20 years--yes, it's really been 20 years since those sweet jumpers were serenaded with, "Huuuuuu!" in the Smith Center--and Williams again seems sure his newest assistant can handle the workload. Davis will need to pass an NCAA compliance test, and once he does so, he'll be on the road this summer evaluating prospects and building relationships.
Preparation as a player meant watching film or hoisting extra shots in the gym. Preparation as a broadcaster meant attending practices, talking to coaches and reading game notes. There's no easy formula for preparation on how to coach--and recruit.
Davis doesn't seem particularly concerned, though. "I have to be myself," he said. "I know North Carolina. I've been around the program. The experience I had in Chapel Hill, not only playing basketball but going to school there, far exceeded the dreams and expectations I had for my college experience. I want every player who comes here to have that same experience, and that's what I'm going to tell them about when we start building that relationship."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of six books on Carolina basketball, including the official chronicle of the first 100 years of Tar Heel hoops, A Century of Excellence, which is available now. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter and Facebook.
