By R.L. Bynum
Kenny Smith had strong opinions on Thursday about the significant transition for the Carolina basketball in the wake of Hubert Davis’ firing, saying he wants the next coach to “retire as a Tar Heel.”
He made it clear that the program is facing more than just a coaching search. To him, it is a defining moment about identity, continuity and loyalty. UNC clearly will be looking outside the “Carolina family,” and that didn’t sit well with him.
At halftime of the CBS broadcast of the Sweet 16 matchup between Purdue and Texas, Smith, 55, appeared on the studio show when host Nate Burleson asked about suggestions that he could be the next coach.
Given that Smith has no coaching experience and considering the gravity of the situation in Chapel Hill, he immediately pushed back.
“I thought that was, honestly, disrespectful,” Smith said after ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith advocated for the former UNC star to be the next coach on “First Take” earlier this week.
Kenny Smith’s No. 30 is honored in the Smith Center after he was a consensus All-American in 1987 before his 10-year career in the NBA. He joined Turner Sports in 1998 as a studio analyst.
Smith pivoted quickly from that speculation to something more meaningful to him: appreciation for Davis and concern for the direction of the program.
“Coach Hubert Davis, thank you for your service and what you did for North Carolina basketball. As a player and as a coach, you’ve moved it forward, and I think people forget that because of a one game here and there,” Smith said. “But I also think that this is a precarious position for North Carolina and for us as Tar Heels, because what makes us special.”
That question, he suggested, goes far beyond wins and losses. Smith emphasized that the strength of North Carolina has always been its continuity, a deep-rooted connection across generations of players and coaches that forms the backbone of the program’s culture.
“When you fire one person, that’s Hubert Davis,” he said. “But when you have Coach [Brad] Frederick, you have Sean May, you have Jeff Lebo, you have Marcus Page, you have Pat Sullivan? What that is, is you have a lineage to every era of basketball that’s Carolina that was on that staff. Every era was connected, so that’s what makes us special.”
For Smith, that sense of lineage is what separates North Carolina from other programs. It is not just tradition in name but in practice, lived daily within the program.
“Forget all that blue blood,” he said. “What makes Carolina family is the connection of all of those eras within one building at one time. And that makes everyone pay attention and have some animosity or some love for us.”
He also pointed out that the culture extends beyond the spotlight figures. From long-tenured staff members to behind-the-scenes contributors, the program’s identity has been built on stability and shared history.
“The secretaries, they’ve been there for 10 years, the equipment managers, the strength and conditioning person — decades,” Smith said. “So, when a new person comes in, if we’ve hired supposedly outside the family, and this new person comes in, they might say, ‘Oh, this guy was my guy, I want to bring him in as well.’ ”
That possibility, he warned, could disrupt what has long made the Tar Heels unique.
Ultimately, Smith’s message centered on loyalty. He framed the coaching search not as a quest for the hottest name, but as a commitment to preserving the program’s identity.
“Dean Smith retired as a Tar Heel. Roy Williams retired as a Tar Heel. Hubert Davis was going to retire a Tar Heel,” Smith said. “Whoever we bring in, they have to want to retire a Tar Heel. I don’t care what that means. You have to.”
In a college basketball landscape increasingly shaped by movement and short-term thinking, Smith made it clear that North Carolina should resist that trend.
“You don’t want to look for, ‘Oh, JJ Redick is done in LA, I want to be a Laker,’” he added. “No, there’s loyalty. Hire a Tar Heel.”
For Smith, the decision ahead is not just about filling a vacancy. It is about protecting a legacy.
Smith’s son, Malloy Smith, committed to play as a freshman next season at Carolina before Carolina fired Davis.
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Photo via @CBSSportsCBB
