CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Basketball Coach Hubert Davis met with the media Thursday afternoon at the Smith Center for his summer presser conference to field questions about the Tar Heels as they continue offseason workouts.
The Tar Heels are coming off a season in which they finished 20-13 overall and 11-9 in the ACC, and did not make the NCAA Tournament. They chose to not play in the NIT, as well, so their season ended with an ACC Tournament quarterfinals loss to Virginia.
UNC lost seven players to the transfer portal after the season ended, and brought in five, though just four are on campus, as West Virginia transfer James Okonkwo has not yet filled out his paper work. As a result, Davis is not allowed to speak about him until he formally signs, which is why there was no discussion of him during the 35-minute presser.
Above is the video of Davis’ presser and below are some tidbits from what he said. We will roll out a variety of content from the presser over the next several days as well:
*Davis has not been all that surprised by the new players because he already knew what some of them could do having game-planned for them, but also through film. Regarding Cormac Ryan and Jae’lyn Withers, who were at Notre Dame and Louisville last season, respectively, Davis each has more “in their bags” than he knew.
*It’s safe to say we got a healthy glimpse into how Davis sees his roster moving forward by the kinds of players be brought in from the porta.
Davis says this will be a better shooting team, says they will be better with ball movement and “we have multiple playmakers now” and that he “really likes the mix and combinations” he has with this group.
*Davis said last summer he would never take a player that reclasses, as he didn’t think it was best for Will Shaver, who came in during the 2021-22 season. However, that was specifically to a player coming in after a season has started. Elliot Cadeau is different, as he’s came in this summer, and will soon be 19 years old.
*When discussing the improvements of lone sophomores Jalen Washington and Seth Trimble, Davis emphasized two things: Trimble has worked tirelessly on his shooting, not just from the perimeter; and this is the first healthy offseason for Washington in a few years. Davis also said Washington is fully healthy now; knees, legs, everything.
*Funny note here: With Jalen Washington and Jae’lyn Withers, Davis has been forced to come up with new nicknames for each player so they immediately know when he’s addressing them. He can’t do “JW,” as they are both JW, so he calls Washington “J-Wash” and Withers “J-Wit.” Davis had some fun talking about this.
*College teams can have six coaches on the floor working with players now, so Pat Sullivan and new assistant coach Marcus Paige can have hands-on time with the players now.
*Davis also discussed each of the transfers, plenty about Cadeau, Armando Bacot finally being in his last season (some jokes here, too), RJ Davis and his leadership, and the Carolina coach was also asked about himself, what he learned in year two at the helm, and much more.
*Stay with THI for much more coverage from Davis’ presser.
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