RJ Davis draws on experience to lead UNC men's basketball to second top-10 win of the season

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – When the preseason All-ACC teams were announced in October, there was a name left off – RJ Davis.

This season, though, the senior guard has showcased why he might not just be the best guard in the ACC, but one of the best players in the country, leading the ACC in scoring and ranking ninth nationally.

According to Davis, this adversity is nothing new — he’s dealt with it his entire life, and it's something he relishes.

“I’ve dealt with the doubters and not being placed on this list or that list," Davis said. "But I just stay true to myself and try to not really pay too much attention to that.”

In Wednesday night’s game against No. 7 Oklahoma, Davis showcased his abilities yet again, notching his seventh-straight 20-plus point game in an 81-69 win — UNC’s second top-10 win of the season.

For the first three years of Davis’ career in Chapel Hill, graduate center Armando Bacot was the player who commanded the attention of the defense. But over those three years, Davis has consistently become more and more of an offensive threat, and now garners the attention of defenses regularly.

“This year, everything has been about him, and I think RJ has been doing a good job of embracing it and bringing us all in together,” Bacot said. “I think that’s huge just having that point guard, leader of the team. I mean it’s just amazing and we love it.”

According to head coach Hubert Davis, in the college basketball world today you don’t see many players who stay all four years. Still, for someone like RJ Davis, that’s exactly why he’s become the player he’s been this season.

“It’s growth,” Hubert Davis said. “I know it’s hard because in collegiate sports, specifically basketball, you forget about the guys that stay until their senior year. It used to be that way because every year you’d mature, you got better.”

A part of that maturation process for RJ Davis has been how he’s made plays when he’s had the ball in his hands. On Wednesday, Davis achieved his first-ever game in which he scored 20-plus points and accumulated five assists while not turning the ball over a single time and swiping the ball three times.

On top of this, being one of only two upperclassmen in the regular rotation who have been at North Carolina their entire career, he’s stepped into a bigger leadership role. No longer is Hubert Davis monologuing to himself during timeouts — RJ Davis is starting to become the one to speak up about what the team needs to do better or what they need to change.

“He’s always the one that starts the conversation and I love that dialogue with him throughout the game and the way he speaks with his teammates,” Hubert Davis said. “As a coach, it’s very comforting to have that on the team.”

The growth from RJ Davis this year has become a key factor in North Carolina’s ability to win matchups against top teams, something they were unable to do last season, and has shone the spotlight directly on Davis as the leader of the team.

“I’m just really happy for [RJ],” Hubert Davis said. “I feel like this is the first time that he’s being celebrated, supported, encouraged, and noticed and I love it.”

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