Hubert Davis considers if 2022-23 roster has same energy as Final Four group

Looking back can often be the worst thing you can do. Even though North Carolina has several identical pieces to last season’s team that made a national championship appearance, that doesn’t make them the same team. That’s the point Hubert Davis wants to get across.

Davis shared those thoughts following UNC’s 63-57 loss at Duke over the weekend. He said he never even thinks about the ’21-’22 season because he’s focused on the ’22-’23 season. To his knowledge, the Tar Heel players still love competing together which, in the end, is the only thing that matters in that conversation.

“That’s just a difficult question for me to answer. And the reason (is) I don’t think about last year at all,” Davis said. “I just don’t. For me, it has no benefit. I don’t think it has any benefit for us moving forward. The number one thing I’ve learned as a second-year head coach is that every year is different.”

“I think our guys love playing with each other, I think our guys love doing this together,” said Davis. “One of the things I always tell them is to find joy in how hard it is to be successful. Whether it’s individually or as a team. I think our guys really enjoy playing together. That’s why they came back.”

Armando Bacot, Caleb Love, RJ Davis, Leaky Black, and Puff Johnson all returned after being key pieces to North Carolina’s run to the Final Four last March. However, the extra year of experience under their belts hasn’t seemed to make much of a difference. They’re actually a game worse through 23 games this season as they were 16-7 last year and are currently 15-8.

Still, the fact of the matter is that, even with similar pieces, they can’t guarantee the results to be the same. North Carolina’s stretch last season didn’t even start until mid-February anyways. With all those things in mind, Davis isn’t concerned about anything with their ’21-’22 season as, at the moment, he’s still locked in on UNC getting where they need to be in ’22-’23.