THI TV: RJ Davis Pre-Duke Interview & Report

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina guard RJ Davis met with the media Thursday at the Smith Center to field questions about his own game, his future, and Saturday’s clash with Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The seventh-ranked Tar Heels and ninth-ranked Blue Devils tip off at 6:30 PM, and if UNC wins, it will outright win the regular season ACC championship. If it loses, the teams will tie for the regular season crown, and top seed in the ACC Tournament will be determined by a tiebreaker.

Since 2001, UNC has met Duke in the final game of the regular season eight times with a chance to win the ACC regular season title, and has won all eight: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 20212, 2016, 2019.

Carolina is 24-6 overall and 16-3 in the ACC, Duke is 24-6 and 15-4.

Above is video of Davis’ Q&A session, and below are some notes from what he had to say:

*Duke was the first team to face guard Davis this season, doing it during the first meeting between the teams. How will Davis prepare for dealing with that again?

He said Creighton Lebo and Paxson Wojcik will play that role in practicing helping him prepare.

“Be aware of it,” he said. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be there, so it’s going to come.”

*Davis said that Cormac Ryan’s uptick in production over the last month has forced defenses to guard himself differently, not entirely selling out with face guarding. He expects some of that, especially with 6-foot-5 Duke sophomore Tyrese Proctor, who spent a lot of time on Davis in the first meeting.

*Davis was asked about the decision he will have to make about whether to take the Covid year and return or move on to the next level. The difference this time it was asked was how it was worked, more about how difficult it must be to not think ahead and stay in the moment. He offered a little something different from previous responses.

“It’s definitely hard, because I’m not going to sit here and act like I don’t think about it,” he said. “But I know for me, mentally wise, it’s better for me to stay in the moment, stay present rather than worry about something I can’t control that may happen in a month or two.”

*He was asked if there is a sense of vindication for Hubert Davis with the team having such a good season after last year that drew a ton of harsh criticism.

“It didn’t sit right with any of us, and definitely not the coaching staff…,” he replied, later speaking more directly about his coach.

“One thing I love about Coach Davis is he always tells us to ignore the noise, and I think he does a great job of doing it himself, because let it phase himself or (get) in the locker room in between the lines of our team.”

*In addition, Davis was asked a few questions about the attitude Harrison Ingram brings to the court, and how he fit in so seamlessly, saying about Ingram, “I feel like he’s been here four years.”

*Heading into this huge game Saturday and then the postseason, Davis has no issue with how the team has been playing entering the most important part of the season.

“I think we’re in a good spot right now,” he said.