Over his 18-year tenure in Chapel Hill, Roy Williams only missed the NCAA Tournament twice. Now, after a 73-65 road loss to Pitt on Tuesday night, his successor is 13-9 and spiraling toward another lost season. Hubert Davis is in his fourth year at North Carolina and barring a borderline miraculous turnaround, his dancing shoes will stay in the closet for the second time.
Davis took the Tar Heels to the national championship game in his first season as a No. 8 seed, then missed the tournament in Year 2, and was bounced in the Sweet 16 as a No. 1 seed last March. With another campaign quickly fading into irrelevance, UNC fans are ready to move on from the lifelong Tar Heel.
Since Dean Smith retired in 1997, UNC has only missed 3 NCAA tourneys. Hubert Davis is about to miss his second in 4 years.
— Clutch Sports: UNC (@ClutchSportsUNC) January 29, 2025
I know i will lose a lot of followers and I'm ok with it because this needs to he said......this is the FINAL STRAW for Hubert Davis as far as I'm concerned. This is NOT CAROLINA BASKETBALL, not even close. He must go in my opinion before he runs this program into the ground.…
— Blue Heaven (@uncsportsphotos) January 29, 2025
After taking a 44-42 lead into the half on Tuesday night, Davis’s team went ice cold in the second half, scoring just 21 points as the Panthers pulled away late. RJ Davis led the way with 16 points, but the talented backcourt of Davis, Elliot Cadeau, and five-star freshman Ian Jackson has struggled to keep the team afloat. Shouldering much of the offense because Hubert Davis could not replace Armando Bacot this offseason, RJ Davis is averaging 17.6 points while shooting under 40% from the field.
Tuesday night’s loss also came with a damning assessment of the program from Jay Williams, ESPN color analyst and former Duke Blue Devil. While it may be preferable for Tar Heels fans to dismiss his late-game criticism because of his allegiances, Williams struck a nerve.
Jay Williams rips into UNC for a lack of fight.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 29, 2025
"It already looks as if, with 24.9 seconds left to go, North Carolina being down only four points, that the game feels over." pic.twitter.com/JqB3yV8nqc
You’re only surprised by this if you haven’t been paying attention to the program Hubert Davis has built. Soft and directionless.
— HurleyMania (@HurleyMania) January 29, 2025
pic.twitter.com/VBDtMzWO3J
The Duke of it all compounds North Carolina’s urgency. It’s hard to replace a legend, but where the Tar Heels missed with Davis as Williams’s successor, the Blue Devils appear to have nailed it with Jon Scheyer taking over for Coach K. Scheyer has Duke at No. 2 in the latest AP poll and with presumptive first overall NBA draft pick Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils are one of the national championship favorites.
UNC is one loss away from another double digit loss season under Hubert Davis. It would be his 3rd in 4 years.
— UNC Zone (@ZoneUnc) January 29, 2025
Simply not the standard that we need for this program.
Barring a miracle run, North Carolina will now miss the NCAA Tournament for the second time in Hubert Davis' four years as HC.
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) January 29, 2025
That might be fine at other programs. That's not okay at North Carolina.
The standard in Chapel Hills is national championship contention. Davis accomplished that in Year 1 with a shocking NCAA Tournament run, but unless he can recapture that lightning in his bottle, he could be out of a job as the program pivots this offseason. At least that’s what the fanbase appears to want.