CHARLOTTE — If UNC basketball needed a bucket in a big moment over the last few seasons, everyone in the gym knew RJ Davis was going to be the first option for the Tar Heels. With the 2024 ACC Player of the Year and third-leading scorer in ACC history no longer in Chapel Hill, fifth-year coach Hubert Davis has to find a new go-to guy on a 2025-26 roster that includes 11 newcomers around senior guard Seth Trimble.
So, with RJ Davis out of the picture, who’s going to take the final shot for the Tar Heels this season?
“The guy who’s gonna make it,” Hubert Davis said with a laugh inside the Hilton Charlotte Uptown during ACC Tipoff, the conference’s annual basketball media days ahead of the 2025-26 season.
“I don’t know, but I think we have a number of guys that can shoot it and can make it, I really do. That is a strange thing, not having Armando (Bacot) and RJ … Harrison (Ingram) and Cormac (Ryan). In those types of situations, they wanted it, and they could make it. Now it’s time for others to emerge. I’m confident that we have a number of guys that are able to do that.”
Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar, the Tar Heels’ 7-foot center, provided the safe answer.
“Whoever gets it and how we can get the best shot,” Veesaar said, “that’s who’s taking it.”
Trimble went a little more in-depth with how he approached the question, showing love to several of his new teammates.
“Who’s taking the final shot? Whoever’s hot. Whoever’s hot,” Trimble said with a smile. “I wouldn’t mind taking it. I wouldn’t mind Kyan (Evans), Luka (Bogavac), Caleb (Wilson), Henri (Veesaar), Jarin (Stevenson), JP (Jonathan Powell), the whole team. As of right now, I’d be confident with guys taking the last shot, but it’s gonna vary.” We’ll know the answer once the regular season begins in November, but Hubert Davis has noticed positive trends in practice, saying “a number of people” are proving capable of handling end-of-game situations.
“Even though it’s 11 new players, it’s not like 11 freshmen. There’s experience,” Davis said.
“As I talked about the experience of Henri, Luka’s 22, Jonathan’s played a year in the Big 12, Kyan’s played at a high level, also in the NCAA Tournament. We’ve got guys that have been successful at the highest level at other places. They’ll be able to do that here at North Carolina, as well.”
