CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Hubert Davis met with the media Tuesday morning to field questions about his first several months on the job, various players, the transfers, freshmen, roles of assistant coaches, the UNC program and so much more.
Davis took questions for 33 minutes, and above is video of his entire press conference and below are several notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say. Note that we will pull out other parts of his presser to run as separate stories over the next few days.
*UNC welcomed three players from the transfer portal this offseason: Brady Manek from Oklahoma; Justin McKoy from Virginia; and Dawson Garcia from Marquette. The transition has gone exceptionally well, Davis said, and he’s very happy to have them on board.
“All three of them have just been fantastic on and off the court,” Davis said. “Going into the summer, we looked at our team and just, ‘What do we want and what do we need?’ We needed versatile bigs. We needed more depth.
“When I took the job, the only true big that we had was Armando (Bacot), and so we needed more depth, we needed more versatility. After losing Garrison (Brooks), Day’Ron (Sharpe), and Walker Kessler, Armando needed some help. I couldn’t have asked for three better players to join our team.
“Justin McKoy, he’s had two years at Virginia, and his versatility being able to play on the wing and also at the power forward position. He’s an outstanding defensive player, rebounder. From an offensive standpoint, he’s a guy that can score inside and out. And I’ve always loved coaching those guys and always hated playing against those type of guys.
“We were fortunate enough to get Brady Manek. He was a four-year starter at Oklahoma. I think there was a stat that nobody in Big 12 history over 6-7 has made more three-pointers than Brady Manek. So, now you have a guy with size at 6-9 that stretch the floor, give us spacing on the offensive end, he’s a really good rebounder, outstanding passer.
“And over the summer in our practices and pickups and individual workouts, he’s even more skilled than I thought he was. I’m so excited to have him here at Carolina.
“Dawson Garcia, he’s a guy that we recruited out of high school, and thought we had a really good chance of getting him. He went to Marquette, and we got a second try at him. Dawson is another big that from an offensive standpoint just has tremendous versatility being able to score around the basket and out on the perimeter.
“One of the things that people don’t realize about Dawson is he’s a lock-down defender. He can legitimately defend one-through-five. So, from a defensive standpoint, that brings a lot of versatility to us.
“All three of them are going to play a lot of minutes and all three of them are going to be great for us this year.”
*Davis hadn’t seen freshman guard/forward Dontrez Styles (6-foot-6) play in person in a long time before the Kinston, NC, native arrived this summer, and he had never met freshman guard D’Marco Dunn (6-foot-4) until he arrived. So far, Davis loves what he’s seen from both players and is pleased they are at Carolina.
“Those guys have been extremely impressed with them, they’ve been fantastic,” Davis said. “It’s interesting, with D’Marco Dunn, because of COVID the first time I actually got to meet him in person and see him play in person was here in the summer in the second session of summer school. I’d seen tons of tape and talked to him and his family a number of times on the phone, zoom calls, different stuff like that. But the first time actually in person was this summer.
“For Dontrez, I hadn’t seen him play in person in two years. So, having the ability to be on the floor with them, go through the individual workouts, the practices that we’ve had and see how they respond to the level of playing here at Carolina, they’ve been off the charts. They really have.
“Their attitude, their effort, attention to detail, their work ethic. They’re always in the gym, they’re always working hard, they listen, they want to be a part of this program and a part of this team. By the time they leave Carolina, they’re going to be (some) of the best players to ever play in Carolina history. I really believe that.
“I am so happy that Dontrez and D’Marco are here at North Carolina.”
*Davis hit the ground running when he got the job, pursuing players that week. But while the UNC coaching staff had a couple weeks of vacation in early August, has the new Carolina coach really been able to pump the brakes any, and when he did, what did he reflect on?
“I don’t have any brakes; there are no brakes, it’s all gas pedal, since April (6),” Davis said, laughing. “It’s been pushing the gas pedal all the way down to the floor. We had a little bit of time at the end of the second session of summer school. There was a couple of weeks before they came for the fall semester that we were able to get away and catch our breath.
“It’s been a busy summer, but it’s been a great one. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know all of the players. And I’ve always had a great relationship with them, but from a head coaching perspective, to be able to spend time with them and their families - really spent a lot of time with the transfers that have only been here this summer – and just trying to put our staff to gether.
“I don’t know if there’s ever been a time. I’ll give you an example: We were at the beach, and my wife was like, ‘My hope is this is a time where you can take your mind off everything and that you can just relax, and you can feel like you’re 100 percent on vacation.’ I turned to my wife and said, ‘I love you to death, but I just don’t think this is a job where you can fully check out.’
“There’s something always going on, something you’re always thinking about. I don’t know if I’ve pushed the brakes. I’ve taken my foot off the gas a little bit, a little bit, over the last five months. But it’s been a great summer and I’m really excited to start this season.”
*There will be some kind of Late Night With Hubert before the season starts, but when and the details have not been ironed out. Davis wants it to be about the program as a whole, its history and what it means and to put a spotlight on the players, even though there was a push to make it a lot about him.
Davis referenced Director of Operations Eric Hoots in his answer.
“I don’t know, you’re gonna have to ask Eric Hoots on that,” Davis said, laughing. He’s in charge of putting that together. One of the things he told me, and I had a couple of suggestions, and he backed up and said, ‘Look, this is the first time, your first late night, we’ve got it, we really want to celebrate you.’
“As much as I love late night, celebrating just me, that’s just not my personality. I love celebrating this program (and) putting all the light on the kids. That’s what I want. But I have no idea what’s going to be happening as of now for late night. But I know it’s gonna be a great celebration.
“It’s something that we missed last year, has always been a great start to our season. I know our players really enjoy it, and I’m excited for the first time being (as) a head coach to be a part of it. It’s just to celebrate our kids and our guys and just get excited for this new season.”
*Puff Johnson arrived at UNC as the No. 64 overall player in the class of 2020, which was much higher rated than his older brother, former Tar Heel Cam Johnson, was ranked when he came out of high school. But Puff never really got anything going last season in part because of a toe injury in January.
He wore a boot for most of the remainder of the season but did not return. Johnson, who is 6-foot-8, ended up playing 58 total minutes in 14 games (4.1 per-game average) scoring just 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds. He was 1-for-9 from three-point range. So, what is the latest with Johnson?
“He’s getting there,” Davis said. “It’s been a little slow in terms of his recovery. But the great thing about it is we’re headed in the right direction. Puff is (an) off-the-charts type of kid, and unfortunately got injured last year and didn’t get a chance to really play and develop. And we’re hoping to see that once practice starts Sept. 28.
“He’s a guy that possesses tremendous size and versatility, and he can do a number of things on the floor. One of the things that I was really surprised at last year before he got injured was that he’s an outstanding offensive rebounder.
“With his size and his length, he can do a number of things out there on the floor. And I mentioned before, I love guys that have versatility. They’re not just stuck on one thing, they only can play one position. Puff is somebody that we can put in a number of different spots he can be successful at, and my hope is that from a health standpoint he can get to a point where he can compete and show us that versatility and be able to use it out there on the floor.
“I’m so happy he’s here. He’s a great kid, and he’s getting healthier every day.”
