Lucas: Tar Heels Elect Captains

By Adam Lucas

Caleb Love didn't realize it at the time, but Hubert Davis has been preparing him to be a captain all preseason.

Everyone understands the on-court progress Love needs to show in his sophomore season. He wants to become a more efficient and reliable shooter, a better decision-maker, and a more careful ballhandler.

Davis wants even more.

"He has high expectations of me as far as playing basketball, but also being a part of leading the team," Love said after practice on Thursday, when he was announced as one of three captains on this year's team, joining Armando Bacot and R.J. Davis. "But he also wants me to be his right hand man. One time in practice I was getting into it with (a teammate). He pulled me aside and said you have to know who you're talking to and know your teammates. He trusts in me and I trust in him."

That trust has been placed in three players, the youngest collective group of captains in Carolina history. The last sophomore captain was Marcus Paige, who had uncommon maturity from the first day he stepped on campus. This year, the Tar Heels will have two sophomores and a junior in prime leadership positions.

The team decided on the trio by virtue of a team vote. Being selected by their teammates makes the honor worth even more.

"My teammates and the coaching staff have trusted me to be one of the leaders on and off the court throughout the season," R.J. Davis said. "It's a big job, but I'm ready for it."

Bacot is the only one of the captain picks who has been through a "real" full basketball season in Chapel Hill. He's the only one who has played in front of a full Smith Center, the only one who has gone into packed hostile road arenas.

He also has the most experience learning from his teammates and soaking in how to build a cohesive team with common goals. The junior cited Walker Miller's unselfishness as a trait he wants to emulate this year.

"He was like a coach off the court," Bacot said. "Since the end of the year, I've been the voice for the team and tried to lead them in the right direction."

That journey begins tonight with an exhibition game against Elizabeth City State (tickets are available). Hubert Davis made clear to his team after Thursday's practice that they should not treat Friday night as a rehearsal. "It's not an exhibition game to me," the head coach told his squad. "I'm ready right now."

There's an uncommon sense of anticipation around Carolina Basketball right now. It's the first season back from a strange pandemic year. It's the first season of a new head coaching regime, something that has happened only five times in the last 60 years. It feels like an important year for the program, one that the new captains are ready to engineer.

"I've put high expectations on myself and on the team," R.J. Davis said. "There's more work to be done. I'm not going to allow myself or my teammates to settle. I'm going to hold them accountable when they're not pushing themselves the hardest, and I'm going to be that voice. The captain has to be an extension of the coach. I'm going to do my job and make sure my teammates do their job so we can have a successful season."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Caleb Love

Walker Miller

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