Entering his fourth season as head coach of the UNC men’s basketball team, Hubert Davis will have one of his youngest rosters to work with.
North Carolina welcomes freshmen James Brown, Drake Powell and Ian Jackson. Powell and Jackson are expected to have multiple starts between them, while Brown is part of a suddenly-deep rotation at center with juniors Jalen Washington and Ven-Allen Lubin.
Other underclassmen on the Tar Heels also have sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau, freshman guard Dante Mayo Jr., sophomore Russell Hawkins and freshman John Holbrook.
Rounding out UNC’s roster is reigning ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis, defensive ace Seth Trimble, junior transfer Cade Tyson, fifth-year Jae’Lyn Withers and senior Elijah Davis, who is Hubert’s son.
Despite North Carolina’s new look, Hubert spoke highly of his players – both old and new – at the ACC Tipoff event on Thursday in Charlotte, N.C.
“I’ve been really pleased with this group in terms of their commitment and wanting to be a team,” Hubert said at the Tar Heels’ press conference during ACC Tipoff. “It’s not just on the court, but off the court. Everyone goes to the meal room, where they will move individual tables together so everybody’s sitting at one table. I know that sounds small and insignificant, but it’s of tremendous significance for us – to become a team and having a desire, a passion and a thirst to be one – and to be the best that we can be. Also, something that sticks out is just the way that each one of the players has valued the gifts and talents that others have brought to the table. We always say you have to acknowledge it, you have to celebrate it and our guys do that every day, whether it’s practice or off the court. That’s just going to be huge for us.”
There’s just under a month until UNC’s first regular-season game, when it welcomes in-state opponent Elon to the Dean Dome on Monday, Nov. 4 for a 9 p.m. tip-off. Hubert still has plenty of time to figure out which rotations work best for him, but luckily for Hubert, he has the good issue of talent sprinkled across the roster.
North Carolina’s off-the-court actions might not seem like a big deal to fans, but trust me, it’ll help big-time on the court.
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