UNC’s Hubert Davis Feeling Heat as Season Tipoff Nears

The weather in Chapel Hill has been quite pleasant as its not too hot or too cold, it’s just right.

The climate around the Dean Dome is heating up, and it’s not because someone turned up the thermostat. Hubert Davis, entering his fifth season as head coach of his alma mater, is starting to feel the pressure. During his first media availability of the season on Sept. 2, Davis acknowledged that the heat has always been there, with high expectations surrounding North Carolina basketball every year.

“I feel the same way that I’ve felt the last four years,” Davis said. “There is a pressure and expectation for us to be good this year. But that pressure and that expectation for us to be good is no different than any other year. The standard is at the highest here, and I always talk to the guys, ‘the standard is the standard.’ And there’s an expectation every year for us to reach that standard.”

Has Davis Been Successful at UNC?

UNC — Mar 20, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis watches team workout during NCAA Tournament First Round Practice at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Despite the ups and downs, he has had a successful four seasons by national standards.

Davis has an overall record of 101-45, with a 56-24 mark in ACC league play and is the third-fastest coach at Carolina to reach 100 career victories. He is also the sixth-fastest in ACC history, behind Hall of Fame coaches such as Duke’s Vic Bubas (in 128 games), UNC’s Roy Williams (129 games), Wake Forest’s Skip Prosser (136 games), UNC’s Frank McGuire (139 games) and Maryland’s Lefty Driesell (142 games).

While the Tar Heels missed the NCAA Tournament in 2023 after entering the season ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll and suffered a first-round exit last season, they were the national runner-up in 2022 and won the ACC regular-season championship in 2024.

If this were Georgia Tech, NC State, or even a traditional powerhouse program like Syracuse, those four seasons would be seen as a success for Davis. However, this is UNC basketball and they are the gold standard.

“Yeah, there’s a pressure and expectation to be good this year,” Davis said. “But also in some sense, to keep it there, if that makes sense.”

“The first year, we were a rebound away from winning the national championship. But the next year, we win 20 games and we don’t make it to the NCAA Tournament,” Davis added. And then the third year, we’re a top-five team pretty much the whole season, No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, won the (ACC) regular-season title. Then last year, we won 23 games and just made the NCAA Tournament. And so there is a determination to get there and to stay there.”

The Tar Heels kick off the season with a preseason matchup with BYU on Oct. 24 in Salt Lake City and will have their first regular season game on Nov. 3 against Central Arkansas at the Smith Center.

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