It’s always difficult to measure the importance of a player in the success of his team. Looking at the Iron Five that led UNC to a national title game, each member contributed something vital to the team’s success: Armando Bacot was a force down below, Leaky Black locked in the best player of the opposing team, Brady Manek became a game nightmare, and Caleb Love always delivered big hits. Despite the many ways these guys contributed, I believe there is one player who, then and now, means more to the team than anyone else: RJ Davis.
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June 1: Jalen Washington
June 12: Tyler Nickel
June 20: Seth Trimble
June 29: Will Shaver
July 7: D’Marco Dunn
July 19: Donrez Styles
July 26: Puff Johnson
After dropping 12 assists in a convincing first-round victory over Marquette, Davis put the team on their backs against Baylor. The disqualification of Manek and Love applied even more pressure on Davis, who already had a hot hand. It felt like the Heels limped to the finish line until overtime allowed the guys to reset. A front three from Dontrez Styles got everyone settled and Davis pretty much sealed the game with a super tough finish and one. The bucket capped an incredible performance for Davis in which he scored 30 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.
Davis was obviously instrumental in the entire Tar Heels tournament. He made huge plays against Duke and even recorded a double-double in the championship. However, if you’ve been following Carolina all season, it probably wasn’t a shock. Averaging 13.5 points, 3.6 assists, and 4.3 rebounds, Davis was the most stable player on the roster. Although it took time for the team to put everything together, he was never the problem.
In fact, Davis was arguably the answer. Several players pointed out that declaring Davis the exclusive ball handler in February helped change the trajectory of the season. Not only did this give him more creative opportunities for his teammates, but it also allowed Love to step away from the ball and focus more on his goalscoring spot. The Love-Davis duo have always worked well together, but establishing clearly defined roles has really made them flourish.
Coincidentally, this Hubert Davis edit happened just before the Heels caught fire. With RJ in charge, the Heels have won 13 of their last 16 games and, despite being 8 seeds in the tournament, truly looked like one of the best teams in the country. Obviously, big things happen when the ball is in Davis’s hands. While his playing ability and tenacity are indications of this, his propensity to take care of the ball is what put him in this position.
For most of the season, turnovers have been a major problem for Carolina. Despite this, Davis never recorded more than 4 turnovers in a game. Besides that, it only had 4 such games, and only one of them came after the aforementioned change. In fact, he averaged 1.6 turnovers starting in February, better than his season average of 1.9. Of course, some of that can be attributed to the general pace the team found itself in, but it still speaks to the stubbornness and control with which Davis plays.
As for next season, I expect more of the same from Davis. The Tar Heels discovered their identity down the stretch last year, and it starts with Davis facilitating the offense. Losing Manek hurts, but with Love, Bacot and Black all returning, there shouldn’t be too much adjustment. With another offseason to work on his game and a group of capable scorers around him, Davis has a chance to be the most dangerous point guard in the nation.