"Hubert Davis is an extension of Roy Williams": NCAA analyst highlights what is potentially hurting North Carolina

North Carolina basketball coach Hubert Davis continues to face scrutiny about his ability to push the Tar Heels into the modern era of college basketball, and this week, a leading analyst suggested his connection to the past may actually be holding the program back.

Speaking on CBS Sports’ Eye On College Basketball podcast, college basketball analyst Joe Ovies argued that Davis has not fully established his own identity as a coach, instead operating too closely as a continuation of his legendary predecessor.

“Hubert Davis is essentially an extension of Roy Williams and the Carolina family, while Jon Scheyer has made Duke fully his own program,” Ovies said. “I’m not sure Davis has done that. And if he has, he hasn’t done a very good job of breaking from the old mold and modernizing.”

Roy Williams is one of the most successful coaches in college basketball history. A Hall of Famer with three national championships at UNC, Williams retired in 2021 after nearly two decades in Chapel Hill.

Davis, a former Tar Heel guard and longtime assistant under Williams, was chosen to replace him. That close link to Williams made sense at the time, but Ovies suggested it has also created difficulties as the sport rapidly evolves.

“Brendan Marks of The Athletic did a deep dive showing how North Carolina had fallen behind the curve in trends,” Ovies added. “This past year, they’ve made efforts to catch up, but that should’ve happened years ago. Maybe they wouldn’t be in this position now.” (Timestamp 13:00-14:53)

The analyst also pointed to Davis’ mixed messaging to new staff roles, such as the hiring of a general manager. While Duke brought in a Nike executive with modern experience, UNC turned to Jim Tanner, an agent closely tied to the Williams-era players.

That decision, Ovies argued, is emblematic of Davis’s reliance on Carolina’s past instead of defining a new future.

Hubert Davis says North Carolina has fixed-size problem ahead of new season

North Carolina coach Hubert Davis believes his team has addressed one of its biggest weaknesses from last season.

“Last year we were really small and it hurt us in regards to getting second-chance points, which has always been a staple of Carolina basketball,” Davis said.

“It hurt us rebounding the basketball on the defensive side, too. So getting bigger was a huge goal for us and I think we’ve achieved that.”

The Tar Heels struggled physically last year, but Davis is confident that size upgrades will make them stronger on both ends.

About the author

Babatunde Kolawole is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over eight years of experience in the field with Canoncrested.com, Garbersports.com, LiveScore Bet Nigeria and Pulse Sports Nigeria.

Kolawole studied Agricultural Economics on the tertiary level but delved into sports writing after school. Over half a decade later, the experience garnered helped him land this role.

Historically, the Alabama Crimson Tide stands out as Kolawole's favorite team as he was drawn to their rich history.

As for basketball, JuJu Watkins is Kolawole's favorite current player due to how much diversity she has in her game, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets the nod for past players because of how he dominated with UCLA.

Kolawole has appeared on several TV and Radio shows as a guest analyst, and in his spare time, likes to watch movies (a sucker for the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and listen to a lot of music. He also loves to travel.

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Edited by Krutik Jain