UNC players describe what Hubert Davis' preseason motivation meant this season

North Carolina is heading to the National Championship following Saturday night’s victory over Duke in the Final Four. That feat is a remarkable one for the Tar Heels in the first season following the retirement of longtime head coach Roy Williams. Hubert Davis took the reigns at UNC, and he hasn’t looked back while leading UNC back to the championship game.

This season was far from smooth for UNC, but Davis remained confident in the team throughout the year. Even when things were looking bleak and the Tar Heels were fighting just to get a berth in the NCAA Tournament, Davis was a big reason for his team’s turnaround.

Following UNC’s victory over Duke to advance to the championship game, UNC stars R.J. Davis and Armando Bacot explained what the confidence of their head coach meant throughout the season.

“It’s crazy to think about,” Davis said about the preseason confidence the UNC head coach had. “Definitely a surreal moment. It just shows how much confidence and belief he had in us at the beginning of the year. He told us we were going to be in this position so we might as well just tell our parents to book their tickets now to New Orleans.

“So looking back on it, and now actually being in this position is something that I’ll cherish forever. It’s definitely a great feeling right now.”

Bacot: UNC always believed it could get to a championship

UNC ended the regular season with an emphatic victory over Duke at Cameron Indoor, entering the ACC Tournament with a 23-8 record. The Tar Heels won one game in the ACC Tournament before losing to Virginia Tech, but by then their spot in the NCAA Tournament field was solidified.

Even when things got tough, UNC remained poised and confident. Even if they didn’t fully believe it, the Tar Heels always said that they were going to get to the championship game, and UNC made that come true on Saturday.

“I would say our belief all year was strong that we can get to this point,” Bacot said. “And I mean at some points, I don’t know if it was belief or if it was just us being delusional, I mean at every point of the season we knew, like, if we came together as a team that we can get to the championship. And that’s what we did.”

Next up for UNC is a championship matchup with Kansas on Monday night.