Hubert Davis Postgame Quotes

North Carolina vs. Loyola Maryland
Men's Basketball
11/9/2021
Dean E. Smith Center
Chapel Hill, N.C.

Head Coach Hubert Davis Press Conference

Q: What was this evening like for you, beginning with the pregame and then going through the process of actually coaching the game?
Davis: Well the process of getting ready for the game and during the game was the same as it was in the exhibition game against Elizabeth City. It's basketball, it's our team, it's our program, and so in terms of the preparation and during the play everything else was the same. Where it was really emotional was after the game. Going through the tunnel I saw my wife was there with my three kids. My oldest son Elijah who is a freshman at the University of Lynchburg, came back to be at my first game. My dad was there, my sister, Pete Chillcutt who was my roommate here at Carolina, he flew in from Sacramento, California so he was in the tunnel. Just seeing all of the people that have been there for me my entire life, all the emotions that I have felt over the last seven months just came. One of the things I always tell the guys is it's ok to be emotional because it means you care. I care about this program and this place and this University so much. That was the only difference after the game was seeing so many family and friends, and it being a very emotional moment.

Q: The walk to the court takes you past where Roy's seat is. Did you give him a look or a nod or a wink or anything in the way out there before tip-off?
Davis: I didn't see anybody, I was locked in for the game. My concentration and my focus was on the team. Walking through the tunnel, one of the people there at the beginning of the game was Linda Woods, a longtime receptionist for Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge. I had mentioned before coming out of high school and coming here to Carolina there were a number of things I needed. One of the things I needed was a mom, because my mom passed away when I was 16. I call her 'Mom Woods,' and she was my mom while I was here. She was the one who loved me and supported me and gave me a hug. We've been unbelievable friends for so long, and being able to go through the tunnel and spend a little time with Ms. Woods was really special for me.

Q: How much of it was a full circle moment from seeing Ms. Linda [Woods], as someone who was here when you got here and helped you along the way?
Davis: Seeing her was my connection to Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge. I've talked a number of times about the importance of giving people a chance and Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge gave me that opportunity, a chance to do something that I've always dreamed about and that was to be a part of this program and to go to this University. To be in this position where I got to play here and then got to raise my kids here and be an assistant coach for nine years and now I'm the head coach. To see Mom Woods there was the perfect scenario for me to go out the first time.

Q: I know you've kind of downplayed making your debut in a certain sense because you have a lot of experience. You were an assistant for nine years, you played in the NBA, you've been in these big moments, but you only get one chance at a debut. How would you describe it?
Davis: It was great. I'm being serious, you know, the process of walking out the tunnel and coaching the game really was the same experience and feeling that I had against Elizabeth City. Probably the one moment that was different in the seven months of being head coach was going out there for the press conference. That was different, I have never done that before. From that standpoint, ... out of the seven months, the only time that it somewhat hit me that I was the head coach at North Carolina is when we went to go scrimmage Florida and I got to sit in the front of the bus. I sat there and I remember calling my wife and I was like, for nine years I've been sitting in that seat and now I'm sitting in this seat. It's strange how little things are the ones that kind of impact you the most. Out of these seven months, sitting in the front of a bus, going to Gainesville to play in a closed door scrimmage against Florida has been the only time that I have had really thought about you know, hey, I'm the head coach at the University of North Carolina.

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