WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — North Carolina men's basketball head coach Hubert Davis was named Clarence "Big House" Gaines College Basketball Coach of the Year by the National Sports Media Association, the NSMA announced Thursday.
Davis became just the fifth coach to lead a team to the Final Four in his first season at the helm. The Tar Heels' run ended Monday with a loss to Kansas, 72-69 in the NCAA Division I championship game.
Davis' 2021-22 team posted a 29-10 record, which included defeats of two top-four teams and three top-10 teams over the final month of the season. The No. 8 seed Tar Heels also knocked off No. 1 seed Baylor in the second round of the NCAA East Regional.
The Gaines Awards will be presented to Davis during the NSMA’s 62nd awards banquet on June 27, 2022, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Davis was born in Winston-Salem and raised in Burke, Virginia. A former Tar Heel and NBA player, Davis left his job as an ESPN college basketball commentator in 2012 to return to UNC as an assistant coach under Roy Williams. When Williams retired, Davis was named the first Black head coach of the program.
The Tar Heels were 12-6 in the middle of the season. Davis steered the team to 11 wins in their final 13 regular-season games.
ABOUT THE CLARENCE “BIG HOUSE” GAINES AWARDS
The Clarence “Big House” Gaines College Basketball Coach of the Year Awards are presented to the head coach in NCAA Divisions 1 and 2, who may not earn recognition from mainstream outlets. An NSMA committee votes on the awards at the conclusion of the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments. The Awards are presented at the annual NSMA Awards Banquet.
Gaines was the head basketball coach at Winston-Salem (NC) State University for 47 seasons. His teams won 828 games, including the 1967 NCAA Division II National Championship. That team was led by Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, who went on to an NBA Hall of Fame career. Among other notable players Gaines coached were Cleo Hill, the first NBA first-round draft choice from a historically Black college or university, and sports media personality Stephen A. Smith. A former president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), Gaines was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. He died in 2005.