Davis enjoying tourney trip just as much as his Tar Heels
The last time Hubert Davis was in Philadelphia for the NCAA tournament, things went pretty well for him and North Carolina.
Then an assistant to Roy Williams, Davis and UNC blew through Philly in the 2016 East Regional as the top seed, handling Indiana and Notre Dame. The run didn’t stop until the national title game thanks to another Philly tie, the buzzer-beater by Villanova’s Kris Jenkins.
Davis had fond memories of that last trip. But more important, to the 51-year-old who characterizes coaching as “missionary work,” is that he can shepherd his players through so many firsts this year.
“The thing that I am enjoying and I just enjoyed with practice today is that with the exception of Leaky (Black, UNC’s senior guard), nobody has ever been in this situation before in the Sweet 16,” Davis said Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center, ahead of Friday’s game against UCLA. “To see not just the determination and the fight and the will and the want-to, but also the excitement and enjoyment of being in a stage that they’ve never experienced before brings joy to me. That’s what I love.”
Davis’s staff has been there before. He made the Final Four in 1991, which he calls the highlight of his professional career. Among his staff is Sean May, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 tournament. Davis hasn’t positioned the eightseeded Tar Heels so much as an underdog as a team hungry to change its narrative. The apex of the effort came in the second-round overtime upset of reigning champ Baylor, 93-86.
“I’ve never felt and I’ve never talked to them specifically about an underdog role, but I have motivated them and challenged them to change the narrative of us not being competitive and competing and shying away from physicality,” Davis said. “It’s something that I wanted them to embrace.”
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It’s going to be a busy weekend in the Ivey household.
Jaden Ivey, the 6-4 sophomore guard, will lead Purdue at Wells Fargo Center Friday night. His mom won’t be in attendance with perhaps the best excuse ever: She’ll be coaching in the NCAA tournament. Niele Ivey is the head coach of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team. After a five-year WNBA career, a decade as an assistant at her alma mater and a brief stint as an assistant for the Memphis Grizzlies, she took over for Hall of Famer Muffet McGraw in 2020.
While Jaden is scouting St. Peter’s, Niele is in Bridgeport, Conn., where the No. 5 Irish hope to upset topseeded NC State Saturday morning.
“I’m not nervous at all,” Jaden said. “I’ve put a lot of work in to get here, to be on a great team like this, and I’m not nervous. My mom has been in the same situation. She’s been in a lot of tournament games where she’s lost and she’s won a tournament game. She’s won a National Championship. I don’t think she’s nervous at all, either.”
Niele played in three Sweet 16s with the Irish, culminating in the 2001 national title. Jaden is getting his first taste of the second weekend of the Big Dance.
“It’s just a blessing to be able to play here and having my mother be in the Sweet 16, it’s just a blessing from God,” Jaden said. “We’re just going to keep going and see how far we can go.”