Hubert Davis

For other people named Hubert Davis, see Hubert Davis (disambiguation).

Hubert Davis

Davis with North Carolina in 2021
North Carolina Tar Heels
Position	Head coach
League	Atlantic Coast Conference
Personal information
Born	(1970-05-17) May 17, 1970 (age 54) Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight	183 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High school	Lake Braddock Secondary (Burke, Virginia)
College	North Carolina (1988–1992)
NBA draft	1992: 1st round, 20th overall pick
Selected by the New York Knicks
Playing career	1992–2004
Position	Shooting guard
Number	44, 24
Coaching career	2012–present
Career history
As player:
1992–1996	New York Knicks
1996–1997	Toronto Raptors
1997–2001	Dallas Mavericks
2001–2002	Washington Wizards
2002–2004	Detroit Pistons
2004	New Jersey Nets
As coach:
2012–2021	North Carolina (assistant)
2021–present	North Carolina
Career highlights and awards
As player: Second-team All-ACC (1992) Coach Wooden "Keys to Life" Award (2008) As assistant coach: NCAA Division I Tournament (2017) 2× NCAA Division I Regional – Final Four (2016, 2017) As head coach: NCAA Division I Regional – Final Four (2022) ACC regular season (2024) ACC Coach of the Year (2024)
Career NBA statistics
Points	5,583 (8.2 ppg)
Rebounds	1,045 (1.5 rpg)
Assists	1,172 (1.7 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Men's Basketball Representing   United States Summer Universiade 1991 Sheffield National team

Hubert Ira Davis Jr. (born May 17, 1970) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's team. Before his coaching career, Davis played for North Carolina from 1988 to 1992 and in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, and New Jersey Nets from 1992 to 2004. He holds the franchise single-season and career three-point field goal shooting percentage records for both the Knicks and the Mavericks. He is the nephew of Walter Davis, another former Tar Heel and NBA player.

Davis served as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 2012 until his elevation to head coach in 2021 following the retirement of Roy Williams. ^[1]

Early life and education

Davis attended Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia, averaging 28.0 points per game his senior year. He attended the same high school as future Tar Heel women's soccer great and Olympic medalist Mia Hamm. He went on to the University of North Carolina, where he holds the record for the highest career three-point percentage in school history. In his junior year, he helped lead the team to its first Final Four appearance since winning the national championship in 1982. Davis graduated in 1992 with a degree in Criminal Justice, after averaging 21.4 points per game in his senior season. ^[2]

NBA career

The New York Knicks selected Davis with the 20th overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. He made the winning free throws after Hue Hollins called a disputed foul against Scottie Pippen in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Chicago Bulls, giving the Knicks an 87–86 win (the Knicks went on to win the series in seven games). ^[3] Davis established the Knicks franchise records for single-season (.476, 1995–96) ^[4] and career (.449) ^{[5] [6]} three-point shooting percentages.

Davis remained with New York for four years, and was traded to the Toronto Raptors before the 1996–97 season. After Toronto, Davis spent time with the Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, and New Jersey Nets. Davis established the Mavericks franchise records for single-season (.491, 1999–2000) ^[7] and career (.454) ^{[8] [9]} three-point shooting percentages. Davis played his final NBA game in 2004, finishing with career averages of 8.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Davis's 44.09% NBA career three-point shot percentage ranks him second behind Steve Kerr (45.40%). ^[10]

Sports analyst

Davis on an ESPN College GameDay broadcast in 2008

Following his playing career, Davis began working for ESPN as a college basketball analyst in the 2007–2008 season. During his time at ESPN, he served as a studio analyst for the network's coverage of college basketball and was a panelist on College Gameday . He left ESPN to return to Chapel Hill as an assistant coach following the 2011–2012 season.

Coaching career

North Carolina assistant coach

Prior to the 2012–2013 season, UNC head coach Roy Williams hired Davis as an assistant. ^[11] Davis also served as head coach of UNC's junior varsity basketball team, one of the only junior varsity teams remaining in college basketball. UNC's junior varsity program is a long-standing program tradition, and several former JV players have gone on to be walk-ons for the varsity team.

Davis was on the bench for the Tar Heels 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament run that concluded with a 71–65 win over Gonzaga in the National Championship game.

North Carolina head coach

Following the retirement of Williams, Davis was named the 19th head coach in program history, and became the first African-American to lead the program. The move was initially met with some criticism, as Davis had never been a head coach at any level. Despite this, Williams had been grooming him for a head coaching job much in the same way that Dean Smith had mentored Williams during Williams' time as a Tar Heel assistant coach from 1978 to 1988.

Davis recorded his first career win in his first game as head coach. The Tar Heels beat Loyola (MD) 83–67 at home in the Dean Smith Center to open the season. ^[12] On February 21, 2022, Davis's Tar Heels defeated Louisville to give the first-year head coach his 20th victory of the year. Davis became the fourth ACC head coach to win twenty games in his debut season in the past twenty-five years with the victory. ^[13] Previous Tar Heel coaches Matt Doherty (2000–01), and Bill Guthridge (1997–98) are two of the other three coaches to reach the twenty-win mark in their debut seasons, winning 26 and 34 games respectively. Davis's Tar Heels capped off a 23–8 regular season with a 94–81 victory over Duke in Mike Krzyzewski's final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Davis's Tar Heels went 1–1 in his first ACC tournament as head coach, and earned an Eastern regional 8th seed in the 2022 NCAA tournament. After cruising to a 95–63 win over 9-seed Marquette in the first round, the Tar Heels upset the East's number one seed, the Baylor Bears, in the second round. The Tar Heels hung on and won the game 93–86 in overtime after losing a 25-point second-half lead. ^[14] The victory secured Davis's first sweet sixteen berth as head coach and the school's 30th overall, the most by any program in Division I history. After a 73–66 victory over 4th seed UCLA Bruins in the Sweet Sixteen, Davis and his Tar Heels advanced to the Elite Eight where they defeated the St. Peter's Peacocks 69–49 to earn a trip to the Final Four. In the national semifinal game, the Tar Heels matched up against arch rivals Duke for the first time in NCAA tournament history. The Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils 81–77 in what was Coach K's final game. However, in the national championship game, Davis' Tar Heels were defeated by the Kansas Jayhawks, 72–69.

Due to the Tar Heels' success in his first year as head coach, Davis became one of the few college basketball figures to have gone to a Final Four as a player (1991), an assistant coach (2016 and 2017), and as a head coach (2022).

Personal life

Davis and his wife Leslie have three children: Elijah, Bobbie Grace and Micah. As of the 2021–22 season, Elijah plays college basketball for the University of Lynchburg. ^[15] At the press conference announcing his hiring as the UNC basketball coach, when asked about being the first black UNC head coach, Davis caused public debate by stating he's proud to be African-American but also proud that his wife is white. ^[16] Davis is a devout Christian. ^{[17] [18]}

Davis is cousins with Drake Powell. Davis' aunt is Powell's grandmother. ^[19]

Career playing statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

*	Led the league

NBA

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1992–93	New York	50	2	16.8	.438	.316	.796	1.1	1.7	.4	.1	5.4
1993–94	New York	56	27	23.8	.471	.402	.825	1.2	2.9	.7	.1	11.0
1994–95	New York	82*	4	20.7	.480	.455	.808	1.3	1.8	.4	.1	10.0
1995–96	New York	74	14	24.0	.486	.476	.868	1.7	1.4	.4	.1	10.7
1996–97	Toronto	36	0	17.3	.402	.229	.739	1.1	.9	.3	.1	5.0
1997–98	Dallas	81	30	29.4	.456	.439	.836	2.1	1.9	.5	.1	11.1
1998–99	Dallas	50*	21	27.6	.438	.451	.880	1.7	1.8	.4	.1	9.1
1999–2000	Dallas	79	15	23.0	.468	.491*	.870	1.7	1.8	.3	.0	7.4
2000–01	Dallas	51	7	24.7	.443	.436	.854	2.1	1.2	.6	.0	7.3
2000–01	Washington	15	11	28.7	.479	.526	.905	2.0	3.3	.4	.0	10.2
2001–02	Washington	51	17	24.2	.448	.452	.762	1.5	2.1	.5	.1	7.2
2002–03	Detroit	43	1	7.6	.392	.333	.833	.8	.7	.1	.0	1.8
2003–04	Detroit	3	0	7.7	.000	.000	–	.0	.3	.0	.0	.0
2003–04	New Jersey	14	0	3.9	.111	–	1.000	.6	.2	.1	.0	.3
Career		685	149	22.1	.458	.441	.837	1.5	1.7	.4	.1	8.2

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1993	New York	7	0	13.7	.560	.500	.667	.9	.7	.9	.0	4.4
1994	New York	23	7	17.2	.364	.286	.719	.9	1.1	.2	.1	5.3
1995	New York	11	0	16.7	.357	.370	1.000	.6	.8	.1	.5	4.2
1996	New York	8	0	18.1	.548	.526	.818	1.5	.6	.0	.0	6.6
Career		49	7	16.8	.409	.373	.750	.9	.9	.2	.2	5.1

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1988–89	North Carolina	35	0	7.1	.512	.308	.774	.8	.3	.1	.0	3.3
1989–90	North Carolina	34	6	21.3	.446	.396	.797	1.8	1.5	1.0	.2	9.6
1990–91	North Carolina	35	20	24.3	.521	.489	.835	2.4	1.9	.9	.3	13.3
1991–92	North Carolina	33	30	33.2	.508	.429	.828	2.3	1.6	1.3	.2	21.4
Career [20]		137	56	21.3	.498	.435	.819	1.8	1.3	.8	.2	11.8

Records

• New York Knicks single-season 3-point field goal percentage (.476, 1995–96) ^[4]
• Dallas Mavericks single-season 3-point field goal percentage (.491, 1999–2000) ^[7]
• New York Knicks career 3-point field goal percentage (.449) ^{[5] [6]}
• Dallas Mavericks career 3-point field goal percentage (.454) ^{[8] [9]}

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
North Carolina Tar Heels (Atlantic Coast Conference)(2021–present)
2021–22	North Carolina	29–10	15–5	T–2nd	NCAA Division I Runner-up
2022–23	North Carolina	20–13	11–9	7th
2023–24	North Carolina	29–8	17–3	1st	NCAA Division I Sweet Sixteen
2024–25	North Carolina	6–4	1–0
North Carolina:		84–35 (.706)	44–17 (.721)
Total:		84–35 (.706)
National champion        Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

See also

• List of National Basketball Association career 3-point field goal percentage leaders

References

1. C. L. Brown (April 5, 2021). "UNC to hire Hubert Davis as its next basketball coach". The Charlotte Observer . The News & Observer.
2. "Hubert Davis – Head Coach". GoHeels.com. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
3. Adande, J.A. (May 29, 2009). "Hollins' call still resonates after 15 years". ESPN. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
4. "New York Knicks Season Leaders". Sports Reference . Retrieved May 20, 2023.
5. "New York Knicks: Franchise Leaders". NBA.com . Retrieved May 20, 2023.
6. "New York Knicks Career Leaders". Sports Reference . Retrieved May 20, 2023.
7. "Dallas Mavericks Season Leaders". Sports Reference . Retrieved May 20, 2023.
8. "Dallas Mavericks: Franchise Leaders". NBA.com . Retrieved May 20, 2023.
9. "Dallas Mavericks Career Leaders". Sports Reference . Retrieved May 20, 2023.
10. "NBA & ABA Career Leaders and Records for 3-Pt Field Goal Pct". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
11. Jackson, Aaron (May 2, 2012). "Hubert Davis: New Assistant Coach Makes Sense for North Carolina Tar Heels". Bleacher Report. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
12. "Loyola (MD) vs. North Carolina – Box Score – November 9, 2021 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
13. ESPN Stats & Info [@ESPNStatsInfo] (February 22, 2022). "Hubert Davis is the 4th ACC coach to win 20 games in their first season as head coach in the last 25 seasons" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. Flaherty, Kevin (March 19, 2022). "North Carolina vs. Baylor score: UNC overcomes historic 25-point collapse to oust No. 1 seed Bears in OT". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
15. "Elijah Davis". lynchburgsports.com. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
16. Adams, Biba (April 7, 2021). "1st Black UNC head coach Hubert Davis says he's 'proud wife is white'". Yahoo News . Retrieved August 9, 2021.
17. Brown, Clifton (November 26, 1993). "BASKETBALL; Knicks' Davis: The Choir Boy With the Killer Shot". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 5, 2021.
18. "College Basketball's Elite Talk Faith at The Final Four". CBN.com – The Christian Broadcasting Network. April 4, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
19. Koh, Michael (September 9, 2022). "Northwood High's Drake Powell Commits to UNC Basketball". Chapelboro.com. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
20. "Tim Duncan College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 25, 2022.

External links

• NBA.com profile
• North Carolina Tar Heels profile