Hubert Davis calls on North Carolina to ‘cut the cord’ on 2021-22 team, focus on present

North Carolina coach Hubert Davis wants his team to put last season out of their minds. After finishing as the national runner-up and returning four of their five starters from 2021-22, the Tar Heels were expected by many to be a title favorite, entering the year at No. 1 in the AP poll.

However, UNC has since fallen out of the rankings after suffering four straight losses over the past couple of weeks. They finally snapped that streak Saturday with a 75-59 victory against Georgia Tech to improve to 6-4.

In his postgame press conference, Davis explained why the Tar Heels have to learn to leave last year’s success in the past and how Saturday’s win was a step toward doing so.

“You have to cut the cord for what happened last year,” he said. “You have to do that. I think in some ways, we haven’t done that. I felt like today we took a step forward in doing that. You have to focus on what is real, and what is real is this team. This team’s preparation and how good this team can be. You have to put previous years in its proper place in order to move forward.

“I agree that it’s been hard not just for (the players), but from the outside noise to cut the cord from last year. I feel like today was a step forward. I think it will always be a battle throughout the entire year, but my hope is we’ll continue to get better and focus on this year’s team and seeing how good we can become.”

Armando Bacot and RJ Davis led the way with a combined 43 points and 23 rebounds in the win. North Carolina had a massive advantage on the boards over Georgia Tech, outrebounding them 43-22. The Yellow Jackets managed just one offensive rebound all game.

Expectations remain the biggest difference between this year’s and last year’s team. The Tar Heels entered the NCAA Tournament as an eight seed last season, and no one could have imagined their run to the title game. However, that put the spotlight on North Carolina heading into this season, and Hubert Davis is still trying to get them to adjust.

Still, with the returning talent from a year ago, it’s clear the Tar Heels still have an immensely high ceiling. They’ll look to continue making ground when they next face The Citadel at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday.