Hubert Davis’ future as the head coach at North Carolina is in doubt, sources told CBS Sports.
Davis did not have contact with his staff for nearly 24 hours from Friday morning into Saturday’s previously scheduled team meeting, a source said, adding to speculation and growing expectation that a massive change could be coming in Chapel Hill. If there is a reverse-course that allows Davis to stay on for a sixth season, it would be a surprise to a lot of people in and around the program.
UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham added some clarity on Saturday morning, telling CBS Sports that no decision has been made on Davis’ future.
“Every year at the end of the season, it’s important to evaluate all facets of the program and look for ways to improve,” Cunningham texted. “The Chancellor, [incoming athletic director Steve Newmark] and I are doing that together now and will continue to have discussions over the coming days.”
If a change is coming, it’s not expected before the end of the weekend. Davis is meeting with North Carolina brass on Saturday. The team had a regularly scheduled meeting on Saturday as well, which, per sources, was business as usual.
The potential impending change was catalyzed by the Tar Heels blowing a 19-point lead with 14 minutes remaining against No. 11 VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. The collapse was the largest by any team in the first round in the history of March Madness and was also a third straight loss to end UNC’s season.
The Tar Heels were without their best player — star freshman and projected top-10 pick Caleb Wilson — who missed the final nine games due to two separate hand and thumb injuries.
If a move is made, it would be an earthquake for college basketball. North Carolina is unequivocally considered one of the four best and most prestigious jobs in the sport alongside the likes of fellow blue bloods Duke, Kansas and Kentucky. In the eyes of some, the Tar Heels job sits at No. 1. A split with Davis would also signify profound move. For the first time in 74 years, the program would almost definitely go outside of the Carolina family to find its next men’s basketball coach.
The lineage dates back to 1952, when Frank McGuire was brought on. McGuire won a national title in 1957 and stayed until 1961, when then-assistant Dean Smith was promoted and went on to build out one of the most impactful and legendary coaching careers in college sports history. From Smith to Bill Guthridge to Matt Doherty to Roy Williams to Davis, every men’s basketball coach at UNC has been linked from one tenure to another for seven-plus decades.
Davis, a 55-year-old UNC alum, was handed the blue blood job in 2021 after Roy Williams’ retirement at the conclusion of that season. Davis, who starred at UNC from 1988 to 1992, has been with the program since 2012. As a head coach, he has a 125-54 record (.698) and made the NCAA Tournament in four years. The one year he missed, in 2023, infamously came after the Tar Heels were the preseason No. 1 team, making UNC the only school to ever not make the Big Dance after being awarded a preseason No. 1 ranking.
🏀 How each UNC season under Hubert Davis has ended
| Season | Finish | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | NCAA Tournament | First Round loss (vs. VCU) | Blew a 19-point lead in a historic collapse |
| 2024-25 | NCAA Tournament | First Round loss (vs. Ole Miss) | Advanced from the First Four, then fell in the Round of 64 |
| 2023-24 | NCAA Tournament | Sweet 16 loss (vs. Alabama) | No. 1 seed and ACC regular-season champion |
| 2022-23 | No postseason | Missed NCAA Tournament | Declined an NIT bid after becoming the first preseason No. 1 to miss the field |
| 2021-22 | NCAA Tournament | National runner-up (lost to Kansas) | Beat Duke in the Final Four in Mike Krzyzewski’s final game |
A primary group of boosters met late Friday afternoon with UNC stakeholders, a source said, to gain clarity on whether keeping Davis was feasible. The verdict: If Davis stays, the money for roster-buildilng next season would likely be flimsy. North Carolina has the No. 26 recruiting class in 2026, including the nation’s No. 8 player Dylan Mingo, who is committed but not signed. The Tar Heels last transfer cycle brought in four blue-chip talents to pair with Wilson out of the high school ranks, a big spend that did not deliver the expected return on investment at the end of the season.
One source told CBS Sports that there is “no conceivable way to fund a roster through donor money, it can’t be raised to fund the team next year” under Davis because almost most of the boosters at UNC have “lost faith in the program.”
That source also stressed that North Carolina is seriously cash-strapped due to the humongous investments in football under Bill Belichick.
And yet, in that meeting Friday afternoon, the big money people did voice a critical piece to all of this: They believe they could rally the money to pay off Davis’ remaining years on his contract and would doubly band the base together to fund the buyout for whatever big-name coach can be brought in over the next couple of weeks if a change is made.