By R.L. Bynum
RJ Davis on Tuesday became the 15th player in Carolina men’s basketball history to earn first-team AP All-America honors.
Davis previously was similarly honored by The Sporting News, ESPN.com and Dick Vitale. The AP and The Sporting News are half the teams that determine consensus All-Americas, with the other two — the NABC (coaches) and USBWA (media) — announced on Wednesday.
Davis is joined on the first team by Purdue’s 7–4 center Zach Edey, Tennessee’s 6–6 guard Dalton Knecht, Houston’s 6–1 guard Jamal Shead and UConn’s 6–5 guard Tristen Newton. Edey was voted first team on all 62 ballots, followed by Knecht with 56 and Davis with 55.
Davis already had earned the right to have his jersey honored in the Smith Center rafters by being named ACC Player of the Year (first-team All-American is another criteria). One way to get his jersey retired is to earn National Player of the Year. But, judging from the All-American team voting, that award will likely go to Edey.
The White Plains, N.Y., senior is the ACC’s leading scorer and ACC Player of the Year after averaging a league-best 21.4 points per game and has led the No. 5 Tar Heels (27–7) to a No. 1 seed in the West Regional. UNC faces Howard or Wagner in the first round at 2:45 Thursday at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center (CBS).
“RJ has been our closer, and in [close games] it’s a huge luxury to know you can put the ball in our guard’s hands and he’ll either make the right shot or make the right play,” said Armando Bacot, a third-team selection last season who earned honorable mention.
Duke’s Kyle Filipowski made the second team and Arizona’s Caleb Love made third team.
Davis is the first UNC player to earn AP first-team All-America honors since Justin Jackson in 2016–17. Phil Ford, Michael Jordan and Tyler Hansbrough each made the AP first team twice, giving UNC first-team picks 18 times.
Davis is sixth in UNC scoring with 2,030 points, the second-most by a guard behind Phil Ford’s 2,290. He’s the only Tar Heel with 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists, 250 3-pointers, and 100 steals. Davis is UNC’s all-time leader in free-throw percentage (85.7%), second in 3-pointers (267), and 16th in assists (423).
Davis is one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award, which goes to the nation’s top shooting guard.
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UNC first-team All-Americans
Lennie Rosenbluth, 1957
Pete Brennan, 1958
Larry Miller, 1968
Phil Ford, 1977 and 1978
Michael Jordan, 1983 and 1984
Sam Perkins, 1984
Kenny Smith, 1987
J.R. Reid, 1988
Jerry Stackhouse, 1995
Antawn Jamison, 1998
Joseph Forte, 2001
Tyler Hansbrough, 2008 and 2009
Brice Johnson, 2016
Justin Jackson, 2017
RJ Davis, 2024
South Regional
FIRST FOUR
Wednesday’s game
No. 16 Prairie View A&M 76, No. 16 Lehigh 55
FIRST ROUND
Thursday’s games
Oklahoma City
No. 4 Nebraska 76, No. 13 Troy 47
No. 5 Vanderbilt 78, No. 12 McNeese State 68
Greenville, S.C.
No. 11 VCU 86, No. 6 North Carolina 78, OT
No. 3 Illinois 105, No. 14 Penn 70
Oklahoma City
No. 10 Texas A&M 73, No. 7 St. Mary’s 50
No. 2 Houston 78, No. 15 Idaho 47
Friday’s games
Tampa, Fla.
No. 9 Iowa 67, No. 8 Clemson 61
No. 1 Florida 114, Prairie View A&M 55
SECOND ROUND
Saturday games
Oklahoma City
Nebraska 74, Vanderbilt 72
Greenville, S.C.
Illinois 76, VCU 55
Oklahoma City
Houston 88, Texas A&M 57
Sunday game
Tampa, Fla.
Iowa 73, Florida 72
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
Houston
Thursday, March 26
Iowa (23–12) vs. Nebraska (28–6)
Illinois (26–8) vs. Houston (30–6)
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Houston
Saturday, March 28
| Date | Month/day | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 11 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 9 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | L, 82–78, OT | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | 24–9 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
