CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The UNC Tar Heels Men's Basketball team returned to Chapel Hill following their National Championship run against Kansas.
The team returned to campus with a big welcome home celebration coming off their win against Duke University in the Final Four. No. 8 UNC Tar Heels suffered a 72-69 loss in the National Championship Monday night in New Orleans against No. 1 Kansas.
Head Coach Hubert Davis was emotional while talking to fans upon their return. He said, "First of all, we're very sorry that we couldn't," but before he could finish the crowd chanted, "No." One fan then shouted, "Smile, we're proud of you."
Davis then thanked fans for their continued support over his first season at the helm of the program.
“I really wanted to thank you guys for this entire season, not just this crowd welcoming us coming back. The support that you’ve given these guys, our program, this university, this coaching staff, and myself in my first year. You guys are such an encouragement to us. You helped us this entire season. Your love and support for us, cheering us on. It made us play harder, it made us practice harder and it made us prepare harder for you guys. It’s not just for us but it’s for all of you."
Davis is the fourth UNC head coach to lead his team to an NCAA Tournament berth in his first season at the helm. Davis and Bill Guthridge are the only coaches to win at least four games in their first NCAA Tournament as head coaches.
Davis spoke about how proud he if of his team.
"As sad, and disappointed, I think all of us are, I’m so proud of these kids. Each and every one of these players have given everything that they have out there on the floor for themselves, for this team, for this program and for you guys. I can’t be more proud of a group of kids than these, all these guys here. We represented this university, this program at the highest level on the court in the classroom and in the community. I hope that out there on the floor you can see we love playing basketball and that we love playing basketball for this program and this university. We look forward to next year already. Again, just thank you so much for the support and we love seeing you guys out here and it's putting a smile on our face!”
The NCAA National Championship game marked the 12th time UNC has competed for a title. UNC has played in the finals in 1946, 1957, 1968, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2016, 2017 and 2022. Carolina played in the championship game for the third time in six seasons.
This year marked UNC’s 52nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It also marked their 21st appearance in the Final Four the most in NCAA history. The Tar Heels are 130-48 in the NCAA Tournament. The 130 wins are the most all-time. The Tar Heels won NCAA titles in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, and 2017.