UNC ONLY BASKETBALL 2024-25 SEASON

[SnoopRob]

Haven’t read the write up on this yet but I’m curious if we’re going to see an increase in staff size beyond just the GM role.

I think people see the GM title and naturally envision the role of an NBA or NFL GM. In reality I don’t think very many (if any at all) of these college programs that are ahead of us adapting to NIL/transfer portal era have a truly bifurcated model where the GM operates mostly independently from the coaching staff like you see at the professional level. Seems like the head coach still has the ultimate say in personnel decisions, and the GM/personnel staff help with the administrative side of things to actually get the deal done.

E: sounds like we are trying to build out a bigger scouting and analytics department. In my view that’s the biggest takeaway from this rather than the credentials of the person with the GM title.

I agree that I think the HC is still the highest person on the org chart when it comes to Carolina Basketball and the GM is a support role, but I think that the GM role is meant to have connections to a lot of folks so that the GM can not only have great knowledge of who's available (or, even better, who will be available long before the portal opens) but also the ability to get our pitch made to the agent and, ultimately, to the player.

That's gonna have to be done by the GM, himself, in a lot of cases and I hope this GM is up to the task.

 

[Peppers49]

Yeah, I see now it was signed in December. I wonder if that would have happened if they knew how this season was going to be.

The extension is pretty friendly for UNC. If they do want to move on from Hubert, they aren’t going to be hamstrung by a crazy buyout that forces them to keep the coach around for longer than they would otherwise prefer like you sometimes see in college football and basketball.

 

[Peppers49]

You read the tea leaves better than me. I have no predictions about how a completely new position to the university and a relatively new position to college basketball will work.

I’m not going to try to predict exactly how well it will work for UNC, but it’s hard to see this not being a net positive. A common denominator for most of the teams that are currently at the top of the sport is that they have invested in expanding their personnel and analytics departments in the last few years.

 

[StoneColdHeel]

I agree that I think the HC is still the highest person on the org chart when it comes to Carolina Basketball and the GM is a support role, but I think that the GM role is meant to have connections to a lot of folks so that the GM can not only have great knowledge of who's available (or, even better, who will be available long before the portal opens) but also the ability to get our pitch made to the agent and, ultimately, to the player.

That's gonna have to be done by the GM, himself, in a lot of cases and I hope this GM is up to the task.

I think the GM hire looks like a like great choice.

 

[TarSpiel]

Yea, this to me is great news.

It just takes a whole lot of things off of Coach Davis' plate, so he can focus on the things that matter most to him, which is about forming and developing relationships with these young men and their families.

I'm super excited about the new setup. And I'm very excited for Coach Davis. I support him 100%, and I think a lot of the criticisms against him have been way too sharp.

 

[4thgenheel]

Yea, this to me is great news.

It just takes a whole lot of things off of Coach Davis' plate, so he can focus on the things that matter most to him, which is about forming and developing relationships with these young men and their families.

I'm super excited about the new setup. And I'm very excited for Coach Davis. I support him 100%, and I think a lot of the criticisms against him have been way too sharp.

i've supported HD pretty vocally from the beginning. my confidence that he's THE guy has only started to waver within the last couple of months.

unless we're talking about people who never wanted him in the first place or wanted him gone after 2023, i don't think the criticisms have been "way too sharp."

the results simply have not been up to standard. it is entirely unacceptable for this program to miss the NCAAT 2 times in 3 seasons and be a bubble team 3 times in 4 seasons.

but this season isn't over, those things haven't yet come to pass. hopefully HD and the guys can right the ship a bit and salvage a tourney bid and avoid another black eye for the program.

 

[TarSpiel]

i've supported HD pretty vocally from the beginning. my confidence that he's THE guy has only started to waver within the last couple of months.

unless we're talking about people who never wanted him in the first place or wanted him gone after 2023, i don't think the criticisms have been "way too sharp."

the results simply have not been up to standard. it is entirely unacceptable for this program to miss the NCAAT 2 times in 3 seasons and be a bubble team 3 times in 4 seasons.

but this season isn't over, those things haven't yet come to pass. hopefully HD and the guys can right the ship a bit and salvage a tourney bid and avoid another black eye for the program.

Well, I'm not talking about *all* of the criticisms of him. I've heard a number of critiques that seem valid, as far as I can tell, and I think it's reasonable for fans to be frustrated and to wonder if Coach Davis is really the right guy for the job.

I'm talking about the other group, the ones who have really disliked Coach Davis from the beginning. I sort of sketch it out in my mind as our fanbase being generally 1/3 pro Coach Davis, 1/3 neutral and fair critiques and supporters, and 1/3 haters. The first two groups are fine with me. The last third fill up game threads like a septic tank.

 

[stankeylegjones]

UNC Extends Hubert Davis’ Contract with New Deal

I don't think it's any surprise that I'm not in favor of this. Hopefully I'm wrong and HD/staff can get much better.

 

[Enigma94]

UNC Extends Hubert Davis’ Contract with New Deal

I don't think it's any surprise that I'm not in favor of this. Hopefully I'm wrong and HD/staff can get much better.

This is about as non-punitive an extension as can be though. I think he was always going to get at least one more year, but if he doesn't figure it out by next year and we decide to move on the buyout would only be $5MM. That's pretty mild as far as 5-year extensions go.

 

[stankeylegjones]

This is about as non-punitive an extension as can be though. I think he was always going to get at least one more year, but if he doesn't figure it out by next year and we decide to move on the buyout would only be $5MM. That's pretty mild as far as 5-year extensions go.

If you think he's the right person for the job then pay him/support him like it, if you are unsure (or don't) then you need to move on now, imo.

 

[finesse]

Wouldn't surprise if it's not that low because Hubert wants to be the Carolina coach more than being a basketball coach. although it's clear he likes his job. This way, it makes it easy to part ways with no particular hard feelings. If he doesn't succeed here, I could easily see him either retiring or going back to broadcasting, instead of staying in coaching. Of course, this is all the purest speculation on my part.

 

[4thgenheel]

Well, I'm not talking about *all* of the criticisms of him. I've heard a number of critiques that seem valid, as far as I can tell, and I think it's reasonable for fans to be frustrated and to wonder if Coach Davis is really the right guy for the job.

I'm talking about the other group, the ones who have really disliked Coach Davis from the beginning. I sort of sketch it out in my mind as our fanbase being generally 1/3 pro Coach Davis, 1/3 neutral and fair critiques and supporters, and 1/3 haters. The first two groups are fine with me. The last third fill up game threads like a septic tank.

definitely not a fan of the septic tank crew. you can't enjoy or barely even discuss anything about the program right now without that crew loudly informing you that everything is awful and that you have no standards for the program and a loser's mentality.

i had a go-round with several of them the other day in a thread about our potential ACCT seeds.

 

[SnoopRob]

I’m not going to try to predict exactly how well it will work for UNC, but it’s hard to see this not being a net positive.

I think seeing it as a "net positive" is based on what one is measuring it against.

If we're measuring it against doing nothing different and adding no other staff, then it is certainly a net positive without any real argument.

If we're measuring it against going out on the open market and attempting to hire someone with experience in CBB in establishing/overseeing processes related to recruiting, player development, and analytics, then I think it's much tougher to know exactly how well this hire stacks up.

 

[finesse]

I think seeing it as a "net positive" is based on what one is measuring it against.

If we're measuring it against doing nothing different and adding no other staff, then it is certainly a net positive without any real argument.

If we're measuring it against going out on the open market and attempting to hire someone with experience in CBB in establishing/overseeing processes related to recruiting, player development, and analytics, then I think it's much tougher to know exactly how well this hire stacks up.

How big is that pool anyway? I don't necessarily want to fish in a fished out pond.

 

[UNCatTech]

How big is that pool anyway? I don't necessarily want to fish in a fished out pond.

Feels like it's the size of the Atlantic ocean.

 

[DiehardHeelFan]

Random question. Have tickets for the same Saturday. Usually park in the Friday lot and take the bus to the SC. With the game being at noon Saturday, where is a good place to park near Franklin St? Thought there was a deck on maybe Rosemary St Should be good weather so wanna park near Franklin and then grab something to eat on Franklin after the game. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Peppers49]

I think seeing it as a "net positive" is based on what one is measuring it against.

If we're measuring it against doing nothing different and adding no other staff, then it is certainly a net positive without any real argument.

If we're measuring it against going out on the open market and attempting to hire someone with experience in CBB in establishing/overseeing processes related to recruiting, player development, and analytics, then I think it's much tougher to know exactly how well this hire stacks up.

I am 100% looking at this through the lens of your first point. We have been running the basketball program like a mom and pop shop while the other big time programs were looking at it like a multi-million dollar business. Any expansion of the back office is a better alternative than maintaining the status quo.

To your last paragraph: I honestly don’t know enough about this hiring process or what a wider pool of candidates for this role would have even looked like to speculate, but I get your point for sure.

 

[Zoo_View]

Random question. Have tickets for the same Saturday. Usually park in the Friday lot and take the bus to the SC. With the game being at noon Saturday, where is a good place to park near Franklin St? Thought there was a deck on maybe Rosemary St Should be good weather so wanna park near Franklin and then grab something to eat on Franklin after the game. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Rosemary has the old deck behind where Amber Alley is. It has a newer lot (opened last year) on the north side of the street. Still has the parking lot behind where Spanky’s was.

The lot in front of the Morehead Planetarium might be free on weekends.

Restaurants? Everything right downtown is really geared to <25 years-old. Tried-and-true (but realistically, mediocre) are Top of the Hill, Sutton’s, Carolina Coffee Shop.

West Franklin has better restaurants.

 

[Bigs23]

Happy that Hubert got the extension. Almost a must (for recruiting) to do that if the plan is to bring him back next season, as it probably always has been.

The GM position was also a must and Tanner seems like a smart guy with an appropriate background. I don’t see a reason to doubt the hire.

 

[SnoopRob]

How big is that pool anyway? I don't necessarily want to fish in a fished out pond.

Honestly, no idea. I'm sure that the best programs have something like a GM (often called the "Director of Scouting/Recruiting/Analytics"), but I'm guessing it'd be hard to pull someone from those programs unless you're throwing a big ol' pile of money at them.

Since I'm guessing a lot of smaller programs don't have this kind of position, you wouldn't be able to poach from those programs at a more reasonable price.

There likely are some folks at the best programs who work in an associate-type position to the Director of "SRA" that you could target. But I have no idea how deep that bench would be overall. And you could always consider a "Director of Basketball Operations" from a school where you really like their scouting/recruiting/analytics operations, as I'm guessing folks in that role might have a good idea what their current employers are doing and how they do it.

As I look through other top teams' Director of "SRA" folks, there doesn't seem to be an established route to the job. But I do note that a lot of them seem to be in their 30s, which is interesting to me but may not be important overall.

ETA: @Peppers49, this also would be a reply to your post to me, as well.