'I don't know what that's about': Duke assistant brushes off Hubert Davis in handshake line

Hubert Davis and the UNC Tar Heels played the role of the villain at Cameron Indoor on Saturday, as the Tar Heels dominated the Duke Blue Devils en route to a 94-81 road win in head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game.

The win, however, came with a bit of controversy, which Davis discussed in his postgame press conference. In the Duke-UNC postgame handshake line, Davis extended an open hand to shake each Duke coach in his path. But one coach — Chris Carrawell — seemed to completely brush him off, refusing to shake Davis’ hand. Then, Nolan Smith, the next Duke coach in the handshake line, appeared to shake hands with Davis while looking the other direction, opting not to make any eye contact.

So what was this all about? He definitely blew off Hubert Davis’ handshake. #UNCvsDuke #Sportsmanship pic.twitter.com/XoYQ0xlK8C

— Jason Staples (@DocStaples) March 6, 2022

Asked about the incident postgame, Davis seemed as confused as college basketball fans across Twitter, who thought it was an immature display of poor sportsmanship.

“I don’t know what that’s about,” Davis said, via The News & Observer. “I didn’t play against him, I don’t know him personally.”

The News & Observer then reported that it reached out to Carrawell, the Duke assistant, for comment following his refusal to shake hands with Davis, UNC’s head coach. But Carrawell said that Davis “did not shake our hands before the game.”

Davis, a former UNC player, did shake hands with Krzyzewski after the game. But when the two teams took the court for pregame warmups — a period during which the coaching staffs typically exchange pregame handshakes — Davis was not yet on the sideline for UNC, so Duke staffers didn’t have a pregame exchange.

Seth Greenberg calls out Duke coaching staff for actions following UNC loss

Seth Greenberg didn’t agree with how the Duke coaching staff handled itself following a 94-81 loss to UNC on Saturday. A video went viral of Blue Devils assistant Chris Carrawell refusing to shake hands with UNC coach Hubert Davis, while fellow Duke assistant Nolan Smith did not look at Davis during his handshake.

This led the ESPN analyst to take to Twitter, where he sent out a message on sportsmanship and how to behave in the face of a tough defeat.

“Really disappointed in how the (Duke basketball staff) reacted to the UNC basketball coaching staff after the game,” Seth Greenberg wrote. “Unacceptable. Respect the game and your opponent. This is a simple rule. A lesson coaches need to demonstrate to their players.”

Carrawell said postgame that he declined to shake hands because Davis snubbed him of a pregame handshake.

Saturday’s contest also marked the final home game in the legendary career of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. Despite the pageantry of the day, UNC didn’t flinch as four Tar Heels finished with 20 or more points for the first time in program history. Armando Bacot led with way with 23 points and seven rebounds as UNC got its revenge for an earlier loss to the Blue Devils this season.

Emotions were higher than usual Saturday — even for a Duke-UNC game. More than 90 former Blue Devils joined Coach K on the court to pose for a pregame photo, and celebrities such as Jerry Seinfeld, Dirk Nowitzki and NBA commissioner Adam Silver showed up as well. Coach K was naturally disappointed following the loss, and grabbed the mic to address fans prior to a postgame ceremony in his honor.

“I’m sorry about his afternoon,” he said, calling the performance “unacceptable.”