6. Hubert Davis – North Carolina
It’s been quite a ride for Davis, who starred for the Tar Heels over three decades ago before a 12-year NBA career. The former shooting guard was an analyst for ESPN for several seasons before joining Roy Williams’ staff at North Carolina back in 2012. After nine years on Roy’s bench, Davis was named his successor in 2021 and has had quite the first two seasons at the helm.
Having no prior coaching experience before North Carolina, you can say that Davis had quite the debut, leading the Tar Heels to the national championship game (as an 8-seed) in his first season as head coach. Unfortunately, that fantastic run was followed up by a largely disappointing season in Chapel Hill, with the Tar Heels going from preseason #1 to missing the NCAA Tournament entirely this past season.
Davis has been a key part of this program for years, and certainly helped build the lineup that made last year’s title game, but his struggles as a head coach are apparent as well. Much of the roster returned after that Final Four and they couldn’t even get back to the Big Dance in a down year for their conference. Davis’s first year was outstanding and his second year was atrocious; what could the Tar Heels have in store for us in year three?