Hubert Davis: Going to the Final Four was my No. 1 experience as a player
Posted March 24, 2022 2:19 p.m. EDT
Updated March 24, 2022 2:21 p.m. EDT
North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis and five of his players fielded questions Thursday afternoon ahead of the team’s Sweet 16 matchup against UCLA.
The UNC-UCLA game is scheduled to tip off at 9:39 p.m. Friday and the game will air on CBS.
Davis said going to the Final Four in 1991 was his greatest experience as a player.
“I said, ‘Guys, I went to the Final Four and we lost,’” Davis said. “I played 12 years in the NBA, and my No. 1 greatest experience personally as a player was to play in the Final Four.”
Davis said it was his goal to get his players to enjoy a similar Final Four experience.
On Thursday, junior forward Armando Bacot, graduate transfer Brady Manek, sophomore guard RJ Davis, sophomore guard Caleb Love and senior guard Leaky Black also spoke with reporters.
Black said the turning point in the 2021-2022 season came after the Jan. 18 road loss to Miami and the Jan. 22 road lost to Wake Forest. Love agreed with his teammate.
“When we got back, we just got right back to work,” Love said.
Davis said the Tar Heels emphasize defensive, rebounding and limiting turnovers.
“My message to them has been to change the narrative, so it hasn't been from an underdog standpoint,” Davis said.
The Tar Heels enter Friday night’s game as a 2.5-point underdog.
Davis also said his team was ready to play “today.”
“We were talking today at the end of practice, and I asked them what practice was this, and they said, ’98,’” Davis said. “Armando says, ‘I want to get to 100. I want to get to triple digits.’”
The winner of the UNC-UCLA game will play the winner of the Purdue-Saint Peter’s Sweet 16 game.
