Hubert Davis describes conversations he had with Roy Williams about Kansas

The North Carolina Tar Heels are getting ready for a tough road game at Allen Fieldhouse where they’ll take on the Kansas Jayhawks. It’s a game that head coach Hubert Davis has a unique insight into thanks to Roy Williams.

Davis has a long standing relationship with Williams, who coached at Kansas in between his stints with North Carolina. The two have had plenty of conversations and stories about that dynamic over the years.

“I have talked to him about it, not recently,” Hubert Davis said. “But we’ve talked a lot about the transition from Kansas here. We’ve talked about the transition from being here and going to Kansas. I really enjoyed hearing stories and memories and experiences that he has gone through in his time at Kansas and also here in the transition going back and forth.”

Roy Williams played on the junior varsity team at North Carolina before his graduation in 1972. He quickly got into coaching and became an assistant for the Tar Heels in 1978. By 1988, he had the opportunity to become the head coach at Kansas, which he took and held until 2003 when he had the opportunity to return to North Carolina.

While at Kansas, Roy Williams made the Final Four four times but it was at North Carolina where he would have the majority of his success, winning three national titles and going to the Final Four a total of five times with the Tar Heels. During that time, he would hire Hubert Davis who eventually took over for him in 2021. Since then, the Tar Heels have been the national runner-up and gone to the Sweet Sixteen.

Despite that relationship, Davis says it’s been less about advice for playing Kansas and more stories that he’d prefer to remain private.

“No, just stories and stories that were meant for him and for me,” Davis laughed.

North Carolina opened its season with a 90-76 win over Elon. Nine different players saw the floor for the Tar Heels in that game with everyone getting double-digit minutes. RJ Davis led North Carolina in scoring with 24 points in the win. Meanwhile, Kansas is coming off an 87-57 win over Howard. Zeke Mayo led the Jayhawks in scoring that game with 19 points.

North Carolina and Kansas are set to play on Friday, November 8th. Tip-off for the game is currently scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST.