CHAPEL HILL — Pace and space.
Those are two words that could define the level of success UNC basketball can reach in the 2024-25 season. Entering their fourth season under head coach Hubert Davis, the Tar Heels have a loaded group of guards led by fifth-year senior RJ Davis, the reigning ACC Player of the Year.
RJ Davis will be joined by the likes of sophomore Elliot Cadeau, junior Seth Trimble, and a pair of highly-ranked freshmen in Ian Jackson and Drake Powell. Tempo will be the name of the game.
“I’ve been straightforward and direct that I want to be the fastest team in the country from free-throw line to free-throw line. In order to do that, you gotta be in the best shape of your life and there needs to be a full commitment in regards to how we’re gonna play that way,” Hubert Davis said Friday during UNC’s preseason media day.
“If you’re not in the best shape of your life, you’re not gonna play. If you don’t sprint to the offensive end, you’re not gonna play. If you don’t sprint back defensively, if you’re not in the best shape of your life, you’re just not gonna play.”
Sure, defense and rebounding will remain staples within the program, and a bulk of that burden will be on the shoulders of 6-foot-10 forward Jalen Washington. But the best version of these Tar Heels will be how fast they’re able to play and how well they can take advantage of spreading teams out, picking them apart, and wearing them out with a break-neck pace.
“I think we have the personnel that can really take advantage of early offense, with our pace, with our speed, with our athleticism, with our versatility,” Hubert Davis said. “I think it’s something that’s really good with this team. … It’s a real, huge emphasis for us to be in great shape so that we can play at the pace that we want to play this year.”
UNC isn’t there yet, Davis added, but there’s been a get-it-and-go emphasis throughout the offseason.
“The best way to put it is: If we don’t get the ball up (the court) in three or four seconds, he’ll give it to the other team in practice. I think that’s a true testament of how he wants us to play,” RJ Davis said.
“Get the ball out quick after a made or miss basket and get the ball up the floor. He’s always talking about getting the best shot available, whether it’s a layup or a wide-open 3. We’ve been really intentional on doing that, because we don’t want the ball to get to the other team. But at the same time, that’s how we want to play this year.”
In the first three seasons under Hubert Davis, the Tar Heels were 39th, 99th and 41st in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom.com.
UNC hasn’t been top 20 in tempo since it was sixth in the 2018-19 season, which saw former coach Roy Williams roll with a primary lineup that included Coby White, Kenny Williams, Cameron Johnson, Garrison Brooks and Luke Maye.
That team won the ACC regular-season championship and advanced to Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
In each of the Tar Heels’ three national championship seasons (2005, 2009, 2017) under Roy Williams, UNC was a top-10 squad in tempo.
UNC’s best route to the Final Four looks to be a plan that includes pushing the pace, spreading the floor, attacking gaps, getting to the rim and taking open 3-pointers. RJ Davis had a more simple explanation for it.
“Just play our brand of basketball,” he said.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com on @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: RJ Davis, UNC basketball need to push the pace in 2024-25 season
