Crucial Week on Tap for UNC Basketball

There won’t be any signs of the Tar Heels in Phoenix at the Final Four this week, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t an incredibly important period for the program.

North Carolina Coach Hubert Davis wasted no time in getting a jump on the 2024-25 season, using the time flying back from Los Angeles last week organizing his approach toward building the next roster.

Davis discussed this on his weekly radio show Monday night, identifying the changes today in going about roster creation and management, specifically.

"It's so different. Like when I played, when the season was over, and this is a lot of it because of the rules, I saw (Former UNC) Coach (Dean) Smith and (former) Coach (Bill) Guthridge every day because I stopped by the office, but I never saw them on the court,” Davis said. “You weren't allowed to do individual workouts. So when the season ended, (that was) the last time I saw Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge on the court until October 15, the next season.”

In the meetings this week, Davis wants to know where the players stand in their current roles, to tell them how the program sees them fitting in moving forward. The conversations are difficult, but also rewarding, as transparency is absolute in having productive meetings.

"I want to know how the year has gone," Davis said. "As the season ends, just to catch up and just see how the year went for them. Anything that they liked, things that they didn't like, my expectations early on of what I expect of them coming back next year and what I want it to look like. Those conversations were really good today, it was a lot of fun."

It also happens to be two-plus weeks into the opening of the transfer portal, so there is a sense of urgency in having the meetings and making determinations. If there is any benefit to a season ending in the Sweet 16, as it did for the Tar Heels (29-8), who lost last Thursday to Alabama in Los Angeles, it’s they can get a jump-start toward the following campaign.

The portal is open for the remainder of the month, so more conversations likely will be had with some of the current Tar Heels.

“Student-athletes have choices now, they have the ability to stay, they can go to the NBA, they can test the waters, they can transfer,” Davis said. “And so just to have really upfront and honest conversations about what they're thinking and their plans to move forward, so that we get prepared to put together another team that has great chemistry."

Davis expressed optimism about building key parts of a team through the portal. He had so-so success in his first year, as Brady Manek worked out, but that’s about it. In year two, Pete Nance was a solid player, but didn’t mesh well on the court, and UNC didn’t even reach the NCAA Tournament.

Year three proved highly successful via the portal. UNC got starters in Cormac Ryan and Harrison Ingram, and a key reserve in Jae’Lyn Withers, and solid bit player in Paxson Wojcik. Now, the mission is to do it again.

Carolina’s coach is confident he can partly build next year’s team again that way.

"I really believe that this team gave me proof that you can bring in guys and you can build a team and you can run out of that tunnel and have a team that says, 'hey, that's Carolina,'" Davis said. "When you see Harrison Ingram, Cormac, you see, 'that's a Carolina guy.' They were only here one year, but they're a Carolina guy.”

Ryan had only one year remaining, so his college career is over. Ingram had two, and now has one year left. Perhaps Davis’ words suggesting the 6-foot-7 Texan is an indicator of their conversation, or he misspoke.

Regardless, both players were engines of the club, and came over from Notre Dame and Stanford. They were enormous assets this past season.

“Those guys dove in, not only to this team, but to this university, this community, and they wanted to be a part of this place and part of the history of this place,” Davis said. “And those are the guys that we want to bring here."

The quest to find them has already begun.

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