North Carolina to promote Hubert Davis to head coach

Hubert Davis, center, is expected to become the next head coach at North Carolina. Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports

North Carolina to promote Hubert Davis to head basketball coach

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 4/5/21

North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball coach and college basketball icon Roy Williams shocked many when he announced on Thursday that he was retiring after 18 seasons at North Carolina and 33 seasons as a head coach.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello reports that North Carolina is expected to promote assistant Hubert Davis as Williams' replacement. The school's board of trustees was meeting Monday to approve Davis' contract, per Borzello.

CBS Sports' Gary Parrish (h/t David Cobb) reports that North Carolina "reached an agreement in principle" to hire Davis ahead of Monday's meeting. Davis had served as Williams' assistant for the past nine seasons and was involved in scouting, recruiting, and in-game coaching until the 70-year-old stepped down.

Tar Heels athletic director Bubba Cunningham previously said he wanted the search for Williams' replacement to go "as quickly as we can." Davis played for North Carolina under Hall of Famer Dean Smith and went on to spend 12 seasons in the NBA.

Hubert Davis in the 1998 NBA 3PT Contest

His score of 24 was tied for 2nd highest in contest history before the NBA added extra money balls. pic.twitter.com/KSkZ7MJXKd
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) April 5, 2021

He worked as a college basketball analyst for ESPN following the end of his playing career before he accepted the job at UNC.

Zac Wassink is a football and futbol aficionado who is a PFWA member and is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment. Erik Lamela and Eli Manning apologist. Chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. Whoops. You can find him on Twitter at @ZacWassink.

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