North Carolina has promoted longtime assistant Hubert Davis to replace Roy Williams as the Tar Heels’ new head basketball coach, the school announced Monday.
Davis has been an assistant coach under Williams for the past nine seasons in Chapel Hill and was one of the favorites as soon as the job opened. He becomes the first Black head coach in UNC men’s basketball history.
Williams, a Hall of Famer who won three national championships and more than 900 games, retired last week after 18 seasons at North Carolina and 33 seasons as a head coach. He is the only coach in history to post 400 wins at two schools.
“I am honored and humbled to be given the opportunity to lead this program,” Davis said in a statement released by the school. “I would not be here without Coach Dean Smith, Coach Bill Guthridge and Coach Roy Williams; they taught me so much — and I’m eager to walk their path in my shoes and with my personality. I also would not be here without Chancellor [Kevin] Guskiewicz and Bubba Cunningham. I appreciate their faith in me and I look forward to working closely with them.”