Hubert Davis recalls clutch performances as a player, compares to pressure moments as coach

UNC head coach Hubert Davis is no stranger to high-pressure moments, whether on the court as a player or on the sidelines as a coach.

“I just remember that series, the previous years we had won the first two games and Chicago won the next two, and we lost in a dramatic Game 5,” Davis said. “And it was another crazy and epic Game 5 in ’94. I just didn’t want us to be in that situation again.”

Long before Davis, 51, was named Roy Williams’ successor at UNC, he was a player for the Tar Heels, after which the new York Knicks selected him with the 20th-overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. And over the course of a 12-year NBA career, Davis’ crowning achievement — at least, in the eyes of Knicks fans — was holding it together as a second-year guard, staying calm, cool and collected, and nailing the two biggest free throws in franchise history with 2.1 seconds on the clock. Those clutch free throws gave the Knicks a coveted win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals over the Michael Jordan-less Chicago Bulls (Jordan was playing Minor League Baseball).

“When I got fouled and went to the free-throw line,” Davis said, “nothing was on my mind other than making those two free throws and putting us one game closer to the Eastern Conference Finals.”

Fast forward to Saturday, April 2, 2022. and the story was quite different. Davis was instead on the sidelines of his alma mater, the Cinderella Tar Heels, the No. 8-seeded UNC program that made it to the Final Four against all odds, only to play in-state rivals at Duke, with head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement on the line. The situation may have been different, but the result was the same: Davis delivered in a clutch moment.

“Those were great times playing for Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy and playing with players like Doc Rivers and Patrick Ewing and Rolando Blackman and John Starks. And it was a perfect team for me to go to (in the NBA Draft). And I wish I had stayed a New York Knick my entire NBA career,” Davis said after knocking off Duke and punching a ticket to the national title game. “But you talked about being in pressure situations and big-time atmospheres, playing at North Carolina for four years, playing in the NBA for 12, playing in New York for four years, and those matchups with New York and, with the Knicks and Chicago Bulls, it put things in perspective now with me as head coach at North Carolina. I’ve been there before.”

As a player, Davis has appeared — and delivered — in high pressure situations on the biggest stage. But he’ll be the first to admit: “Maybe not as a coach.

“But in terms of the atmosphere — I’ve been there before,” Davis said. “It puts me in a position where I’m calm and confident and I really believe something that helps is my personal career playing on the biggest stage.”