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#UNC coach Hubert Davis at weekly ACC coaches Zoom press conference ahead of game at Ga. Tech
Jan 26, 2026
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0:00
Um, Arl Binham, you are up first, sir.
0:02
Good morning, Hubert. I want to ask
0:04
about Derek Dixon's progression. What is
0:06
he doing so much better now as a league
0:08
guard than he was a month ago? And
0:10
you've also talked about wanting your
0:13
players to make the easy pass and the
0:15
singles, but he made a couple of home
0:17
run passes uh Saturday against Virginia.
0:22
Well, I mean, um, you know, Derek is um
0:26
a very confident player.
0:29
uh very fundamentally sound,
0:32
uh very skilled, can really shoot the
0:35
basketball. He's a big guard that um uh
0:39
from a defensive standpoint um can guard
0:42
a number of different positions and
0:46
um with the extended minutes I feel like
0:48
he's done a really nice job and uh he's
0:52
become more vocal
0:54
um throughout the year which naturally
0:57
comes because you you know you just feel
0:59
more comfortable with your teammates
1:02
with your coaches and he just has a
1:04
great personal personality, a great um
1:08
personality, not just off the court, but
1:10
on the court as well. Um I would
1:13
respectfully disagree with you in
1:15
regards to those home run plays. No,
1:17
those are those are singles. Those are
1:19
things that we work on every day in
1:23
terms of pitching a ball ahead, whether
1:25
it's to our wings running wide or our
1:28
bigs running down the middle of the
1:30
floor. And so those are things that we
1:32
practiced and practiced. And um it was
1:35
nice to get uh Caleb and Jiren some easy
1:39
layups in transition in the second half.
1:41
I thought that was huge for us.
1:43
Thanks,
1:44
Shelby Swanson.
1:46
Yeah. Hi, Hubert. Um I guess just going
1:49
off of that, um I know you talked a lot
1:51
in the past about the value of having
1:53
multiple ball handlers on the floor, but
1:55
with Derek, just these performances he's
1:57
had
1:58
three games uh starting. Is it safe to
2:02
say you guys have settled in with him as
2:04
this team's point guard? Why or why not?
2:09
No, I mean
2:11
settled.
2:13
Am I very happy with the season that
2:16
Derek has had? Yes. Am I happy with his
2:21
improvement? Yes. Um, do I like multiple
2:24
ball handlers out there? Absolutely.
2:26
Yes. And for example, against Virginia
2:30
with them being able to pick up full
2:32
court and pressure defensively
2:35
after made baskets. Um that's why we
2:39
had, you know, Luca bring the ball up,
2:41
Seth bring the ball up, Kai bring the
2:44
ball up, a number of different people,
2:46
even sometimes um Caleb brought the ball
2:49
up. And so having skilled players out
2:53
there on the floor um is something that
2:56
I've always wanted as a head coach. And
2:59
again, I'm not I don't put guys in
3:03
particular categories in terms of point
3:04
guard, shooting guard, small forward.
3:07
They're basketball players and Derek is
3:09
a basketball player.
3:12
Michael Co.
3:15
Morning Hubert. Um, you guys obviously
3:18
had a very good week with the two wins.
3:20
Um, and the team had said that that
3:22
started in practice after coming back
3:25
from California.
3:27
Is it almost more challenging now to
3:29
keep that intensity up after some
3:32
positive results and with the longer
3:34
layoff that you guys have before heading
3:36
to Georgia Tech this weekend? Well, I I
3:39
I feel like um our practices leading up
3:43
to the Cow game, even even though it
3:45
didn't translate in the game, I felt
3:47
like we had two good practices there. Um
3:51
and I feel like we're um since coming
3:54
back from Christmas, I feel like we're
3:57
we're consistently
4:00
practicing well and stacking days in
4:02
practice. And so, um,
4:07
each week has its own life of itself.
4:10
And, um, even though we don't have a
4:13
midweek game, um, we're going to
4:15
practice and prepare, you know, the same
4:18
way that we've have all year. And, um,
4:22
in order to be a good team, you have to
4:23
sustain that. You have to sustain being
4:26
present and locked in. And that's
4:29
something that we'll do this this week
4:31
in preparation for a really good Georgia
4:34
Tech team and then also a really good um
4:38
Syracuse team on Monday.
4:41
Thank you,
4:42
Brett. Freedlander
4:45
Hubert. The uh the subject of uh Smith
4:47
Center's future has come up and become
4:50
front page of the last week or so. Roy
4:52
has chimed in. I was wondering as head
4:55
coach of the program, um, will you have
4:57
any or do you have any input into that
4:59
subject? And either way, what what would
5:02
you like to see done?
5:05
You know, I've answered that question um
5:08
a couple of times um in regards to, you
5:11
know, how much I love the Smith Center.
5:14
um it being home plate for me and I I
5:18
would assume for the other former
5:21
players
5:22
but speaking for myself
5:25
um it's not just a place where I played
5:27
it's a place um when I say home plate
5:31
it's a home plate for my life um I can
5:36
remember every conversation that I had
5:38
with coach Smith and coach Guthridge the
5:40
reaction the uh memories and um the
5:44
conversations that I had with my
5:46
teammates uh all throughout the Smith
5:49
Center um it's a place where obviously
5:54
um you know it's where I became a
5:56
Christian it's you know where I fell in
5:58
love with my wife where we got married
6:00
in Chapel Hill and that home plate has
6:02
always been the Smith Center and so you
6:06
know um
6:08
that's a place that I never ever um as a
6:12
former player wanted it to go and um but
6:16
the number one thing that I'm focused on
6:18
is this team. Um you know, one of the
6:20
things I always talk about is keep your
6:22
eyes straight ahead and um um the most
6:27
important thing to me um and the only
6:30
thing on my mind is coaching this team,
6:32
enjoying coaching this team and seeing
6:34
how good we can become.
6:36
Thanks a lot. Be safe out on the roads
6:38
headed to practice.
6:39
Okay. Thank you.
6:40
Uh, Noah Weissoff.
6:42
Hey, Huber. You guys scored the 21
6:44
points off fast break on Saturday and 14
6:47
of those came in the second half. What
6:49
were, I guess, some of the key reasons
6:50
you guys had so much success in
6:52
transition, especially in the final 20
6:54
minutes there?
6:55
I I felt like we rebounded better. I
6:57
know we got killed on the boards by 16,
6:59
but I feel like we rebounded better
7:03
um in the second half. You know, what
7:05
ignites us in transition? what allows us
7:08
to get out. Um and and and and you know,
7:12
there was two or three of those pitch
7:14
aheads or even after a made basket, I
7:17
just I felt like we rebounded better. Um
7:21
and um you know, we really were able to
7:24
get some easy layups, easy points early
7:28
in the possession. And that was an
7:30
emphasis for us against Virginia because
7:32
they're such a good defensive team. They
7:34
have so much length and I felt like, you
7:37
know, their defense gets stronger the
7:39
longer that the possession goes. And so
7:42
if we could find some ways to get great
7:44
shots early, that would be good for us
7:47
and we're able to find those more often
7:49
in the second half than the first.
7:52
Spencer Haskell.
7:54
Morning, Hubert. Uh, I wanted to ask you
7:56
about Luca. I know he hasn't started
7:57
since the SNU game, but I think in the
7:59
last four he's averaging double digits
8:00
off the bench for you guys. So, I just
8:02
wanted to get your take on on what
8:03
you're seeing from him and his kind of
8:05
progression throughout the season.
8:06
Yeah, you know, starting and coming off
8:09
the bench that, you know, never meant
8:11
anything to me as a player and I know it
8:13
means things to players now. I'm not
8:16
saying that it shouldn't or it doesn't.
8:19
I'm just for me it's has always been a
8:22
non-factor for me as a player and as a
8:24
coach. Um, Luca, you know, he's he's a
8:30
he's an older player, an experienced
8:32
player that um is very confident and
8:36
doesn't get uh like he's a confident
8:38
teammate. Like, he's confident in being
8:41
able to make plays whether it's for
8:43
himself or for his teammates. I mean,
8:46
like being on the road at Virginia
8:48
doesn't bother, doesn't fase him a bit.
8:52
he actually walks towards that even
8:55
more. And so, you know, the shots that
8:58
he made in the first half were huge.
9:00
They kept us in the game and got us to
9:03
halftime only down by nine. And just his
9:07
poise and playmaking
9:10
um you know, over, you know, that that
9:12
he's that he's done lately has been huge
9:14
for us. We need him. you know, he's a
9:16
you know, he can he can distribute, he
9:19
can score off the catch, he can score
9:20
off the dribble, um he can do a number
9:23
of things out there on the floor and um
9:27
he's been really good for us lately.
9:30
Thank you.
9:30
Squeeze one last one in from Andrew
9:32
Jones.
9:33
Hey, Hubert. Uh Caleb has been posting
9:36
some historic numbers. He just matched
9:38
Tyler Hanssbro for most 20point games as
9:41
a freshman. I know you're in the midst
9:43
of the season. I know I know how your
9:44
grind is, but are you able to appreciate
9:47
maybe from a historic perspective some
9:49
of the things that he's doing for you
9:51
guys last night uh this season? And what
9:53
is his ceiling the next two months?
9:57
you know, I I I am able to I I am I
10:03
think I said this to coach uh Jeff Lebo
10:06
that I'm just
10:09
specifically for him just so thankful
10:12
that I've gotten an opportunity just to
10:15
be able obviously to coach him, but just
10:18
to have a front row seat of seeing
10:22
this kid just develop and continue to
10:24
get better. Um over the last couple
10:27
weeks he's become more vocal.
10:30
Um
10:32
over the last couple weeks
10:35
um you know he has let us in his energy
10:39
um in practice and I've said this like
10:43
as good as Caleb is like he has a lot
10:48
more improvement to go. like the ceiling
10:51
is
10:52
I don't think anybody can see the
10:55
ceiling. It's that high for him and it's
10:59
just such a joy to coach him. Um as I
11:02
told you before,
11:04
maybe other coaches have this, but no
11:07
other coach, no other program has it
11:10
better than this
11:12
combination of having this good a
11:14
player, this good of this good of person
11:17
and this good of teammate. like it's um
11:21
it really is a blessing to be able um to
11:23
coach him this year.
11:25
Thank you. Appreciate that.
11:26
Huver, thank you for the time.
11:27
Appreciate it. We'll see you soon.
11:29
Okay. See?
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