North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham said Saturday the school is evaluating “all facets” of its tradition-rich men’s basketball program after another early exit from the NCAA Tournament under Hubert Davis.
Cunningham said in a statement he is working with UNC chancellor Lee Roberts and executive associate AD Steve Newmark — who will take over as Cunningham’s successor in the coming months — in that review.
“Every year at the end of the season, it’s important to evaluate all facets of the program and look for ways to improve,” Cunningham said. “The chancellor, Steve and I are doing that together now and will continue to have discussions over the coming days.”
Davis closed his fifth season Thursday as successor to retired Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams with an overtime loss to VCU in the South Region, coming after the Rams rallied from 19 down for the biggest comeback in first-round history.
The program with six NCAA titles and a national-record 21 Final Fours now has just three March Madness wins in the four seasons since an unexpected run to the 2022 national title game in Davis’ debut season. That includes reaching the round of 32 only once in that span, a Sweet 16 appearance two years ago as a No. 1 seed that lost in an upset to Alabama.
The Tar Heels also became the first team ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 to miss the NCAA Tournament in 2023. Last year, the Tar Heels went just 1-12 in Quadrant 1 games that top a postseason résumé to squeak into the First Four, beating San Diego State before losing in the first round to Ole Miss.
This year’s team appeared ready for a leap with top recruit and high-end NBA prospect Caleb Wilson proving to be an immediate star. The Tar Heels beat Kansas and Kentucky, made a huge comeback to win at Virginia, and then gave Duke one of its two losses on Seth Trimble’s last-second 3-pointer.
But Wilson broke his left hand days later at Miami. He was on the verge of returning in early March after UNC had gone 5-1 without him, but Wilson — later chosen an AP second-team All-American — broke his right thumb in a non-contact drill and was lost for the season.
The Tar Heels didn’t win again, losing at Duke, against Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and finally against VCU.
Davis signed a two-year extension last season running through 2029-30. The school would owe Davis $5 million in base salary payments for the remaining years of his deal plus, additional payments for the remaining months of the 2025-26 season.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
