CHARLOTTE – North Carolina’s turn on stage at the ACCV TipOff came Thursday, and head coach Hubert Davis plus Tar Heels RJ Davis and Seth Trimble represented the program.
First, they took part in a Q&A session at the podium in the main press conference room, and then they were available for a half hour in the breakout room.
Above is video of veteran guard RJ Davis’ main press conference and below is a complete transcript of what he had to say:
Q. RJ, for you, just what's been the most impactful moment at North Carolina so far, the thing that maybe sticks out to you the most on or off the court?
RJ DAVIS: That's a great question. I would say the most impactful moment for me would be my sophomore year just in terms of how we came together as a group, as a unit, not knowing our chances of making the NCAA Tournament, going to the Syracuse and Duke game.
The way we believed in one another, especially going into that Duke game, Coach K's last game, of how we came together. That whole week we sat down in the locker room saying, This is our week, this is our time to kind of just shock the world, because obviously they had a phenomenal game against us at home. We didn't play our best.
Just in terms of just that moment we shared after the game going to Franklin, that's one of the best experiences I've experienced just because you see the love from the school. From that moment on, I think we just believed and took off from there.
Q. Being a fifth-year veteran, we've seen three freshmen come in. James Brown has big shoes to fill with Armando Bacot who you played with for many years. What's his transition been like, and how have you stepped up to mentor him?
RJ DAVIS: James Brown has been tremendous. Just in practice he's been asking questions and learning on the fly.
One thing that I love about him is his eager and his competitive edge. He's always willing to learn, but he is always willing to compete. Even if he makes mistakes, he's going to do it by going hard. James has been great.
He is great defensively. He is able to guard guards on the perimeter and bigs down low. So he's going to improve and progress throughout his years of playing here, but it's kind of just taking him under my wing a little bit, telling him how to set the screens. Whenever I snake, just kind of be there on the roll.
But he is learning on the fly. At the same time, I think guys are going to expect a lot of great things from James Brown, not just this year, but for years to come.
Q. We talked about the loss of Armando and Harrison, but a constant is Coach Davis. Can you just talk about your relationship with him and the identity he wants you guys playing with.
RJ DAVIS: Coach Davis, we established a relationship since the day he recruited me when I was just at Stepinac camp. We always talk about this when -- it was a team camp at Archbishop Molloy. From that point on, we established a relationship that's bonding, and it's been strong throughout my five years of being here.
He's a coach that I can rely on, and he's put me in positions and has put so much belief in myself. Sometimes I didn't have that within me, but he's instilled that in me. That's something that you can't really ask for a coach. You can only be grateful for. We've built a relationship that goes beyond basketball.
When you have a coach like that, when it's just not strictly about basketball, when he wants to know about your personal life, making sure you're doing well in school, wants to know about any siblings or family, just stuff like that. Those conversations, they go a long way.
For my five years and him being my coach for four, I mean, I can't really put into words just how much he means to me.
