When the UNC basketball program was flying home from its two-game West Coast trip, Hubert Davis' job security seemed to be very much in question.
The Tar Heels lost back-to-back games on that trip, knocking them down to 2-3 in ACC play. Given the ups and downs of the Hubert Davis era, the fan base was not happy with the performance, letting it be known on social media how they felt about the situation.
While you could make the case at the time that a head coaching change was lurking, Davis and his staff have re-wrote that narrative in the weeks proceeding that West Coast trip, as the staff deserves a lot of credit for how UNC has played during the second half of the regular season.
UNC has flipped the script
Since the loss to California on January 18, North Carolina has been one of the better teams in college basketball.
The Tar Heels followed up that trip with a five-game winning streak, including a win over rival Duke, and are 9-2 over their previous 11 games.
UNC fans who still want Hubert Davis fired were just hit with a sobering reality
Those two losses came to Miami on the road (immediately following the Duke win- easy "hangover game," and the other to NC State (a game in which the Tar Heels played without both Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar).
Speaking of Wilson...
What makes it even more impressive
Davis and the Tar Heels coaching staff has had to navigate without star freshman Caleb Wilson, and have done a tremendous job leading this group in his absence.
Playing without Wilson since February 14, the Tar Heels are 5-1 over their six games, with the lone loss being the aforementioned NC State loss that serves as their Super Bowl win (even while facing a very short-handed Tar Heels team!).
When Wilson went down, most people were very concerned with how this team would fare in his absence. While we all want to claim that we had full faith that they would keep it rolling, no one expected them to be this successful without their star player.
That is a credit to the coaching staff, as they've had this group ready to play and motivated to step up when their number is called.
Hubert Davis deserves a ton of praise
Just like when everyone turned on Davis when the Tar Heels were struggling, that same energy should be sent his way in recognition of what he's done with this year's team.
Even though he's a long-shot to win the award, Davis has earned consideration for ACC Coach of the Year, an award that has at least three very deserving candidates who you can make a strong case for.
Not only has Davis had to navigate a bit without Wilson, but let's not forget that Seth Trimble was sidelined for a good portion of non-conference play due to injury.
The Tar Heels have had to figure it out on the fly, and Davis has done an excellent job in navigating the ship. Yes, the expectations at North Carolina are extremely high, but when you look at what Davis has done, especially this year, the noise of the Tar Heels potentially moving on from him becomes quieter by the day.
For now, the Hubert Davis critics essentially have nothing to complain about, as this man (who is a fine representation of the UNC basketball program) has made tremendous strides to prove that he is, in fact, the right guy to lead this program moving forward.