Styles, Dunn Staying On Board Following Davis Hiring
Hubert Davis will be announced Tuesday as the 10th Head Men's Basketball Coach in the storied history of the University of North Carolina program. Once that concludes, the duties of his job description will come fast and furious. Among them will be keep the current signing class intact.
That group consists of Kinston's Dontrez Styles and Fayetteville's D'Marco Dunn. Tar Heel Illustrated spoke with both players late last week shortly after Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams announced his retirement. Neither one wavered in their commitments.
We caught up with them again Monday evening, just.hours after the news of the Davis' hiring broke, and once again there was nothing but positivity about the newest headlines.
Styles told us last last Friday that he was "standing firm" with his commitment, but he wanted to see who Carolina hired and then "go from there." Three days later, the top-75 senior informed us that he was all in on the announcement of the new head coach.
"I feel like it was a great hire, " Styles said. "'I know him a little bit. He's a great person from what I saw. I've been around him a little bit."
Styles said that his relationship with Davis got off to a good start on his unofficial visit to Chapel Hill.
"When I went to visit last year we talked a little bit," he said. "He was very cool. He's a down to earth guy."
When asked if he was happy with the Davis hire, Styles responded in the affirmative, "Yeah, I was for sure."
Styles ended the conversation by also cementing his his commitment to the North Carolina program.
"Yeah I am, " Styles closed.
Not surprisingly, D'Marco Dunn was working on his craft when the announcement of new hiring broke.
"Actually, I found out right when I got out of the gym, " Dunn said. "I think it's a great hire with him being from the family. He knows the system. I don't think things are going to change too much. I think he fits right in."
Dunn said he hasn't had as tight of a relationship with Davis as some of the other Carolina assistants, but he has no concerns. The belief systems are the same.
"I haven't spoken with him too much," he said. "It's mostly been Coach (Steve) Robinson or Coach Williams, but I'm sure he's a great hire. He texted me not too long ago, but he's right in the family and I don't think things are going to change too much. I think he'll uphold the same values as Coach Williams does."
It also should be comforting to Dunn that Coach Davis quickly reached out to him Monday evening.
"Coach Sean May called me probably a couple of hours ago when I got of practice. He told me Coach Davis talked to the team and he was going to get back to me.," he said. "Coach Davis sent me a text not too long ago, and I've still got to get back to that. It's the first day, so he just getting started."
In a nutshell, Dunn said he was very pleased with the hire and was able to detail why in case there was any doubt.
"Oh yeah, most definitely. He knows the system, and I chose UNC for the system," he said. "So it's not too much change with the coaching staff. It's different with Coach Williams not being there, but he's right there. He was the assistant coach, so he's been right there all along so it can't be too much different."