ESPN report: Why Hubert Davis Made Sure He Spend NBA Draft Night Alone
When the UNC coach was selected in the first round by the New York Knicks, he was holed up in a hotel. At the time, he was a shooting guard fresh out of college.
Hubert Davis had deliberately made sure he was alone himself on the June night that he was chosen No. 20 overall in the 1992 NBA Draft.
The draft was being held in Portland, Oregon at Memorial Coliseum, and the North Carolina coach, a shooting guard coming out of college, was not present. Nor was he throwing a draft party for friends and family in Chapel Hill. Rather, Davis was staying alone at a Best Western motel, which was slightly over 3 miles away from the UNC campus.
Why would he want to go through such a significant occasion alone? Davis’s superstitious nature stemmed from an incident that happened two years earlier.
Following his sophomore year on the Tar Heels, Davis’s teammate Scott Williams declared for the NBA Draft in 1990. The big man Williams had started all three years at Carolina and finished as a senior with an average of 14.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, shooting over 55 percent from the field for the third consecutive year. Davis said he was at a party that Williams threw the night of the 1990 draft. However, Williams was not selected that evening and ultimately signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bulls. Williams went on to play in the NBA for fifteen years.
Looking back, Davis stated, “That really scared me,” in March during an appearance on his radio show. “It was therefore anticipated that I would be selected in the first round on the night of my draft. I said I didn’t want to be around people because I didn’t know. I then made my hotel reservation at the Best Western.”
In his four years at UNC (1988–1992), Davis shot 3 points at a career percentage of 43.5 percent. During his final two years of college, Davis established himself as a consistent starter. He averaged 21.4 points per game as a senior and was named to the All-ACC second team for his skillfully effective 51-43-83 shooting split (field goal %, 3-point percentage, and free throw percentage).
Following the first three selections at the top of the draft class—Christian Laettner, Alonzo Mourning, and Shaquille O’Neal—the New York Knicks selected Davis with the twentyth pick in the first round of the 1992 NBA Draft. After that, Davis had a successful 12-year NBA playing career, spending time with the New Jersey Nets, Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, and Detroit Pistons. Even at 54 years old, Davis can still clearly recall that fateful day in that Best Western hotel when his NBA career formally started.
“Pat Riley, who was the head coach of the New York Knicks, called Coach (Dean) Smith,” said Davis. “‘Where is Hubert?'” And ‘he’s at the Best Western,’ Smith added. They contacted the Best Western front desk, who then gave me a call and asked if I could take Pat Riley’s call. They put me in touch with Pat Riley, who informs me that he will select me with the 20th choice. That’s how I discovered that I was being drafted.”
The 2024 NBA Draft will be a two-day event for the first time, beginning on Wednesday, June 26. Harrison Ingram, a forward for UNC, has been a constant favorite to be selected in the second round of this year’s draft. During his only season with the Tar Heels, Ingram, a transfer, shot 38.5 percent from three-point range and averaged 12.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. In its most recent mock draft, which was made public on Monday, ESPN, for instance, projects him to go to the Houston Rockets at pick 44 overall.
