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CHAPEL HILL – Hubert Davis has no interest in getting into what North Carolina and Duke meeting in the Final Four this weekend means to the sport of college basketball or anything else, for that matter, that doesn’t directly pertain to his team’s preparation for the game.
Davis, however, did acknowledge Tuesday during a press conference in the Smith Center that he’s surprised this has never happened before.
“I am, I’m very surprised,” he said. “I can’t believe the last time that we’ve both been to the Final Four (in the same season) was when I was 20 years old in 1991. I am surprised that it hasn’t happened before, and I think it’s very funny that the last two times we’ve been to the Final Four I’ve been at the Final Four.”
Davis said that laughing, but also noting he was an assistant coach under Roy Williams in 2016 when the Tar Heels lost in the national championship game at the buzzer, and a year later when they won it all, getting their redemption for the painful defeat one year earlier.
But as the basketball world begins navigating its way this week through the dough-kneading process of the many storylines accompanying this obviously historic occasion, the amazement factor is still there and likely will be right up to the tip off.
“I am surprised,” Davis said, again reiterating what he said several times during the press conference. “As celebrated and as successful as both programs have been, for us to not have met in the Final Four very many times is surprising.”
Not only is UNC-Dule widely regarded the best rivalry in American sports, the programs’ excellence suggests they would have met at least a few times since the NCAA Tournament began allowing multiple teams into the field in 1975.
Think about it, both are among what has been referred to as the “Fabled Six” for some time. Also in the sextet are UCLA, Kentucky, Kansas, and Indiana, noted as the greatest all-time programs in college basketball history. So the rareness in Duke-versus-UNC is best illustrated by noting how often the Tar Heels and Blue Devils have met the other schools in this select association:
Since the field expanded in 1975, Carolina has played Kansas five times, Kentucky four times, Indiana three times, and UCLA twice, including last week in the Sweet 16. Duke has met Kansas six times, Kentucky four, Indiana three times, and UCLA twice.
As for the historic nature of this game, and what it can do for the schools, the ACC, and the sport in general, Davis has no interest in going there.
“The significance – I don’t know and I don’t really care, and I’m not even thinking about it,” Davis said. “Right now… our focus needs to be on what allows us to prepare the best, practice the best, and play the best.
“So, focusing and taking time on anything outside of our preparation, our practice, and our play just doesn’t have any benefit for us in order for us to be the best we can be on Saturday.”
Yet, this is more than just Duke-Carolina in a Final Four. It also happens to be legendary Blue Devils Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s last season, and could be his last game. The idea that the Tar Heels could end his career is one of the national talking points generating plenty of steam.
Adding to it is that UNC won inside Cameron Indoor Stadium a few weeks ago in Krzyzewski’s last home game there, amidst the pomp and celebration of it all. This isn’t just going to be a rivalry game; it has endless trimmings that can satisfy anyone’s sports and entertainment desires.
But Davis doesn’t care. He is laser focused, all eyes straight ahead.
“Duke-Carolina, the significance, Coach K’s last season, those things, even though that is a story and that’s relevant, it doesn’t help us on the floor. And so our focus is on what helps us on the floor.”
The Tar Heels (28-9) and Blue Devils (32-6) will tip at approximately 8:50 on Saturday night, 40 minutes after the Villanova-Kansas game ends.
Maybe afterward Davis will discuss more about the significance of the game outside his team winning and losing, and then again, maybe not. He sure won’t before then.
