At the same time UNC fans were discussing whether his job should be safe, we find out that North Carolina men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis has been working under the terms of a new contract.
The reason for the discussion is that the Tar Heels were struggling until recently and are still fighting for a bid to the NCAA Tournament. UNC currently has a 18-11 overall record and a 11-6 mark in the ACC. The Heels are not contending for the conference’s regular season title. Seasons like this are not supposed to happen in Chapel Hill. Hence, the talk about Davis and his future.
Apparently, UNC wanted to stop the rumor mill as it shared what could easily be construed as a secret. It announced that Davis agreed to a two-year contract extension with North Carolina last July, tying him to the Tar Heels through 2030 and giving him a sizable increase in base pay.
North Carolina did not post the updated contract to its official athletics website until Tuesday. Why wait so long to share the news? Some know why but fans will not. The administration said that not releasing the news was an “oversight.”
It is hard to buy the oversight excuse. And I thought public institutions had to post salaries. I cannot think of a reason why they would keep the agreement a secret. But there has to be a reason.
Now that it is public knowledge, here are the numbers. Under terms of the new deal, Davis’ base salary jumps from $400,000 per year to $1.25 million per year. Davis also will earn $1.7 million in supplemental income this season. That figure will increase by $100,000 annually through the life of the deal.
North Carolina extended Davis in the wake of a superb 29-win 2023-24 season in which the Tar Heels won the ACC and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The program has failed to live up to expectations this season, falling from the preseason top 10 to the NCAA tournament bubble.
If North Carolina misses the NCAA tournament, it would be the second time in Davis’ up-and-down four-year tenure. Davis guided the Tar Heels past rival Duke in the Final Four in his debut season but became the first preseason No. 1 team to fail to make the NCAA tournament the following season.
Thus far, the results have been Tar Heel like every other year under Davis. Now that the secret is out, we all know UNC will be paying him through 2030 no matter what the results are.
