Lucas: Tar Heels Chasing Opportunity

By Adam Lucas

Even as Hubert Davis has preached patience to the players on his first Carolina team, he is well aware that it is an almost impossible request.

Davis' message to every Tar Heel outside of the starting five has been consistent for the entire season: "You're going to get an opportunity. I can't promise you when it's going to come, but you're going to get an opportunity."

But 18-22 year olds aren't exactly well known for their patience.

"I'm saying that to them knowing that they probably can't be patient because they're 18 and 19 years old," Davis says. "The key for them to believe it is that whatever I say, it has to happen."

Davis knows he is one voice in a sea of hundreds telling younger Tar Heels that they should be playing 40 minutes and taking all the shots. They hear it in their hometown. They hear it on the internet. They can pull it up on their phones any time of day.

And still Davis stays consistent: "You're going to get an opportunity. I can't promise you when it's going to come, but you're going to get an opportunity."

So the breakout moments, like Justin McKoy sinking clutch free throws against Baylor or Puff Johnson scoring 16 points at NC State, are important.

Perhaps none more so than Dontrez Styles logging 25 minutes in the win over the Bears, including sinking a gigantic three-pointer early in overtime. Styles has now played 39 minutes in Carolina's two NCAA Tournament games, or more than the amount of minutes he played in the Tar Heels' prior seven games combined.

Styles and Davis were talking Monday. "You didn't believe me, did you?" the head coach asked the Kinston freshman.

"Well, kind of," Styles replied. "How did you know it was going to happen?"

"Because I've been there before," Davis answered.

"I was sitting on the bench in the NBA my rookie year, and the Knicks put me in the game in Game Two of the NBA Playoffs, and I played the rest of the playoffs," Davis says. "I've been there before. But Dontrez had to go through it himself. Now he can draw on that experience himself. Now he knows that if he stays patient, his opportunity will come."

That doesn't mean it's been easy for the Tar Heel reserves. The starters are playing such heavy minutes that it can be hard to find a rhythm off the bench. Davis holds regular five-on-five scrimmages in practice featuring everyone except the starters to make sure they're still getting quasi-game action.

It's up to them, though, to make sure they're still getting plenty of repetitions.

"I've been putting in the work before and after practice," Styles says. "Jackie and B-Rob are in my corner every day. They tell me I have to train like I'm a starter because at some point my name will be called and I have to go out and perform."

And those appearances are still very much matchup-based. Styles and McKoy earned minutes against Baylor because of their more physical approach. Johnson might be needed to grab a key rebound.

All of them know they might be needed for 20 minutes on Friday night against UCLA, or they might be needed very little. That's part of their role this season.

"It's very, very hard," Davis says. "It's almost impossible for this generation to be patient, because there's so much noise around them. That's why they've been so big for us, and why I keep telling them they're going to get that opportunity."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Puff Johnson

Justin McKoy

Dontrez Styles

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