North Carolina
North Carolina decision on coach Hubert Davis’ future is reportedly coming next week
North Carolina is picking up the pieces after a heartbreaking March Madness loss to VCU. The Tar Heels blew a 19-point lead, allowing the sixth-largest comeback in NCAA tournament history, including the largest the first round has ever seen.
They’ve now bowed out of the tournament’s Round of 64 in back-to-back years, and questions are swirling about the job security of head coach Hubert Davis.
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Those won’t be answered until early next week, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
“The future of Hubert Davis at North Carolina right now is squarely in flux in the wake of these back-to-back, first-round NCAA tournament exits,” Thamel reported on Saturday. “The sides are expected to talk in the upcoming days, and no decision on Davis’ future is expected until early next week.
“Do not expect Davis to be fired outright. Any kind of departure would be synchronized, likely between he and the school. Hubert Davis is a legend at North Carolina and will be treated with that type of respect.”
Thamel added: “The options here are simple: Keep Davis with significant changes to the staff and program or orchestrate some type of wholesale change to the coaching staff and bring in a whole new regime.”
In other words, even if Davis stays, staff changes are expected.
Outgoing UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham, who will be replaced by Steve Newmark when Cunningham steps down from his role this summer, reportedly told Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman that he and other administrators are in the process of evaluating the men’s basketball program.
“Every year at the end of the season, it’s important to evaluate all facets of the program and look for ways to improve,” Cunningham said, per Goodman. “The Chancellor, Steve and I are doing that together now and will continue to have discussions over the coming days.”
UNC has historically hired within Tar Heels family
Davis has led the UNC program since April 2021, when he took over for Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams, who guided the Tar Heels to three national championships and five Final Fours over an 18-season tenure.
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In hiring Davis as Williams’ replacement, the school stayed within the Carolina basketball family. Davis played under program legend Dean Smith, another Hall of Fame coach, at UNC from 1988-92 and worked under Williams as an assistant coach from 2012-21.
Davis took the baton and ran with it initially, especially down the stretch of his first season at the helm. The Tar Heels took down rival Duke twice: first in the regular-season finale, spoiling the final home game for retiring Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, and then again in the Final Four.
Although UNC fell to Kansas in the national title game, its journey back to that stage inspired confidence in Davis.
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Tournament struggles under Davis
Since, however, the Tar Heels have won just two NCAA tournament games, and both of those victories came in 2024, when they were a No. 1 seed after winning the ACC regular-season crown. That year, they lost in the Sweet 16 to Alabama.
Following UNC’s national runner-up finish in 2022, it began the 2022-23 season as the No. 1 team in the AP preseason poll but went on to miss out on the NCAA tournament entirely.
This season, the Tar Heels beat Duke in the first of the teams’ two meetings. But their leading scorer and rebounder, top NBA Draft prospect Caleb Wilson, eventually suffered two injuries, the second of which was a thumb injury that the freshman forward picked up in practice and that required season-ending surgery.
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UNC missed Wilson sorely when VCU was mounting its first-round comeback on Thursday. And now Davis’ future, as Thamel reported, is “squarely in flux.”
Friends and family members gathered in Washington state on Saturday, remembering former Miss North Carolina Carrie Everett, who died on Easter Sunday. Another memorial service is planned in North Carolina next month.
Web Editor : Sydney Ross
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Virginia 3, North Carolina 0 | First Quarter
Virginia 3, North Carolina 0 | Q1 8:19
After a faceoff win by Henry Metz, Brendan Millon finds Truitt Sunderland to give the Hoos a 3-0 lead. Timeout North Carolina.
Virginia 2, North Carolina 0 | Q1 9:00
Brendan Millon gets the scoring started for the Cavaliers with a question mark style goal. On the defensive end, Jake Marek opens the game with three early saves with his third save setting up a transition goal by Tommy Snyder.
Virginia vs North Carolina pregame notes
UVA owns a 59-33 advantage since the series began in 1938.
The 59 wins are UVA’s most against any opponent in program history (followed by 51 against Duke).
In Chapel Hill last year, the Tar Heels defeated the Cavaliers 18-9, snapping UVA’s six-game series win streak.
UVA has won nine of the last 11 meetings, dating back to 2018.
The Hoos have won the last two meetings with Carolina at Klöckner Stadium, 11-4 in 2022 and 14-6 in 2024.
The Tar Heels’ four goals in 2022 marked the fewest goals in a game under Joe Breschi, who was named UNC’s head coach in 2006.
The last time the Tar Heels knocked off the Cavaliers at Klöckner was a 16-13 decision during the first of three games between the two teams in 2021.
Later that year, UVA claimed back-to-back meetings against the Heels, including in the NCAA semifinals on the way to capturing the 2021 national title over Maryland.
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HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Fire crews are responding to a brush fire near Howard Gap Road in Hendersonville on Friday evening.
The fire is across the street from the Ebenezer Baptist Church and near the Highlands Square Shopping Center.
Henderson County Fire Marshal Glen Gillette said crews are fighting “blowdown from Helene.”
NEW WILDFIRES IGNITE IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA FOREST AMID WORSENING DROUGHT
Around 11 p.m., the fire appears larger than it did an hour ago because crews are backburning, which refers to using fire to help control the wildfire.
Dana Fire Department Chief Jimmy Womack said that what was a 3-acre fire an hour ago will be an 8-acre fire due to back burning. He said the fire is 80% contained.
Womack said the cause of the fire is unknown, but one of the conditions contributing to the blaze is the Helene blowdown.
“There’s a lot of blowdown in these woods behind us. That’s what creates most of the problem,” said Womack.
Womack said there has been no property damage and no injuries have been reported for this fire in the woods that 24 personnel are fighting. They got the call to arrive at 6:05 p.m.
LOCAL NEWS
Dana Fire and Rescue and Henderson County Fire Department are supporting the U.S. Forest Service with this fire.
Glen said no structures are threatened at this time and Howard Gap Road is closed.
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This story will be updated as new information is discovered.
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