*Hubert Davis held his introductory news conference Tuesday on the Smith Center court where he noted the challenges of taking over as head coach at North Carolina.
Davis, a first-time college head coach, is following Hall of Fame legend Roy Williams, who led a program that has six NCAA championships and ranks among college basketball’s all-time wins leaders, per ESPN.
“I don’t feel pressure because I’m not comparing myself to anybody,” Davis said. “Coach Williams is the greatest. I’m Hubert.”
But it wasn’t Davis’ emotions about moving up from assistant basketball coach to leading the Tar Heels that captured the attention of college sports fans. It was him calling out his white wife and biracial kids that had folks giving him the side-eye.
When asked about the significance of being the first Black head coach in UNC history, Davis said, “It is significant. It’s significant that I’m African American, and I’m the head coach here. It’s significant. I know that in terms of Division I head coaches all around the country, only 26% of the head coaches for Division I basketball are compromised (sic) by minorities.”
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“I know that it is significant,” Davis continued. “I know that it is significant that I’m the fourth African American head coach in any sport in the history of the University of North Carolina. I’m very proud to be African-American. But I’m also very proud that my wife is white, and I’m also very proud that my three very beautiful, unbelievable kids are a combination of us.”
His comments in the 50-second clip quickly went viral and folks wasted no time clowning Davis for being yet another oddball swirler.
Many folks believe Davis’ white paymasters encouraged him to initiate #BedBuck mode during his speech, others are convinced that the only reason he was tapped to take over as head coach is because his wife is not a Black woman. After all, a Black man with power makes a lot of folks uncomfortable, and if he has a supportive headstrong Black woman by his side, the white supremacists will work overtime to destroy him — or at the very least, make sure he does not have a seat at the table.
“Yeah. That last part was so unnecessary and I hope he sees it and recognizes,” one fan wrote in response to Davis’ awkward statement.
Lawyer and sports contributor Exavier Pope wrote “Why did he feel the need to say the last part of about being proud to have a White wife? It’s perfectly fine he does, God bless their family, but why did he feel the need say it in the context of the history he was making? Odd.”
In a statement about his new job, Davis referenced his wife. “I love this university. I played here, I earned my degree here, I fell in love with my wife here, I got married here, I moved here after I retired from the NBA and I have raised my family here. I am proud to lead this team, and I can’t wait for all that comes next.”
Hubert Davis: “I’m ????????????????????, ????????????????????????????????, ????????????????????????????, ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? of being your new men’s basketball coach for the University of North Carolina.”#CarolinaFamily pic.twitter.com/Lev1CwyTQD
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) April 5, 2021
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