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CHAPEL HILL – THI’s annual series looking at North Carolina’s roster for its upcoming season continues, as RJ Davis week begins.
If North Carolina handed out an award to the player most closely resembling a model of consistency last season, junior point guard RJ Davis likely would have taken home the hardware. Even with his multiple bouts with a bad finger, which caused some shooting dips, he was still a Tar Heel that Hubert Davis could count on bringing it every night.
The numbers weren’t always there in high volume: Davis scored less than 10 points four times, and had two or fewer assists eight times. The intangibles, however, were always there, beginning with unbridled toughness.
Remember the win at Syracuse and how banged up Davis got that night?
“RJ’s fine,” UNC Coach Hubert Davis said after the game after RJ suffered three different ailments. “He got hit a number of times. He had a dislocated finger on his shooting hand, he got hit in the nose, and then the last charge that he took, he got hit in the eye. He’s pretty banged up, but in terms of being alert and aware, he’s fine.”
One of the injuries was a reaggravation of a finger issue that plagued Davis early in the season.
He shot 30.5 percent from deep through the first seven games. Once conference games got going, Davis hit a stride, playing arguably his best basketball while wearing a UNC uniform. In the first nine games of ACC play, Davis averaged 18.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 53 percent from the field, including 46.5 percent from beyond the arch.
After playing Syracuse, Carolina went on a stretch of six games in which the Tar Heels lost five, and the team's struggles were reflective of Davis’ cold streak. During that stretch, Davis shot 32 percent from the field including a shooting percentage of 21 percent from three. A common component from his earlier shooting struggles was he wore tape on his fingers during both slumps.
So, the day of a crucial home game versus Virginia, Davis shed the tape, and it showed in his performance: 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field, including 2-for-4 from the perimeter. He also handed out four assists as the Tar Heels (18-11, 10-8) won for the second time in four nights. Oh, and he also grabbed 10 rebounds.
"I'm going to take the risk of my fingers getting jammed up or hit, it's just a risk you take,” he said after beating UVA. “I don't think too much about it.”
Davis was the Tar Heels’ floor general, he took an abundance of important and difficult shots, especially as the shot clock wound down, and his body language never changed. Hot from the floor, struggling from the floor, Davis maintained an almost-professional approach.
He finished second on the team averaging 16.1 points per game, led the club with 3.2 assists, averaged an impressive 5.1 rebounds for a 6-footer, shot 40.9 percent overall from the floor, and 36.2 percent from 3-point range.
Carolina underachieved finishing 20-13, but Davis wasn’t the problem. And his return for this season was a huge development for the 2023-24 Tar Heels. With Elliot Cadeau on hand now, Davis will play on and off the ball.
On the ball, he will serve as a floor general and continue giving UNC toughness at the point. Off of it, he can hunt for shots and find driving lanes from the wing. All of this plays to his and the Tar Heels’ advantage.
Whether on the ball or just off of it, Davis will be an enormous asset to UNC this season.
Reason For Optimism
Davis has a terrific attitude, is unwavering in his approach, and has developed a nice mid-range game to go with a highly effective perimeter game. When at point guard, having a senior back there is big for UNC, but when off the ball, Carolina can get him a ton of shots coming off screens, in transition, and even using some curls. Davis should have an All-ACC season, maybe even first-team caliber.
2023-24 Projection
Davis will develop cohesion with UNC’s other new guards and turn in an outstanding season. Expect him to contend for first-team All-ACC honors and develop into perhaps the team’s primary leader. Expectations for Davis should be high.
