By AARON BEARD AP Basketball Writer
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis has two more years on his deal and a new general manager to help the blueblood men’s basketball program deal with the changing landscape of college athletics.
Davis has signed a two-year extension running through the 2029-30 season to lead his alma mater. And on Tuesday, the school announced Davis had hired basketball agent Jim Tanner as the program’s first executive director and GM.
UNC also posted an updated contract for Davis on its official athletics website, with that deal reached in July and signed in December. It pays Davis an average of $3.2 million in base salary and supplemental pay, up from about $2 million on the previous deal reached in July 2022 that ran through the 2027-28 season.
Notably, the base salary increased from $400,000 annually to $1.25 million, more than tripling the amount owed to Davis to buy out the remainder of the deal if UNC ever decided to make a coaching change. It also includes $750,000 in additional pay from an apparel deal with Nike and a media rights deal with Learfield, a $50,000 expense allowance and another $1.25 million in annual available bonuses.
The 54-year-old Davis played for the Tar Heels under late Hall of Famer Dean Smith and spent a dozen years playing in the NBA. He later left an ESPN broadcasting job to work as an assistant to another Hall of Famer in Roy Williams in 2012, then took over as head coach in 2021 when Williams retired.
That change coincided with the arrival of a new era in college athletics with players able to profit from their fame with name, image and likeness deals and move freely between schools through the transfer portal without sitting out. And at UNC, Davis’ tenure has had some wild swings, starting with an unexpected first-year run to the NCAA title game.
His second team won 20 games but became the first preseason No. 1-ranked team to miss the NCAA Tournament. Last year’s group won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season race and claimed a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, while Davis was named ACC coach of the year.
This year, UNC opened the year at No. 9 in the preseason AP Top 25 before falling out amid a series of losses in marquee matchups. But the Tar Heels (18-11) have won four straight and five of six as they fight to end up on the right side of the NCAA bubble.
Perhaps some of those extremes explains why Davis sounded ready to make changes earlier this month, notably when he talked about plans to hire a GM. At the time, Davis said “the old model for Carolina basketball just doesn’t work,” referring to past infrastructures that leaned largely on coaches, saying that he would add more support staffers.
He’s not alone. Schools have responded by expanding staffs in both football and basketball while taking on the look of mini-professional front offices. It’s a sign of how the job of running major college programs in today’s changing era is more than merely a coaching staff can handle.
Tanner’s hiring follows through on Davis’ plan, bringing on a UNC alumnus who has represented more than 70 NBA players in a 28-year career. The founder and president of Tandem Sports + Entertainment will have duties that include assisting in roster construction and contract negotiations. He also will identify and hire new scouting and analytics staff.
“Jim’s experience and knowledge is needed in helping us navigate contracts, the transfer portal and the advancement of this program,” Davis said in a statement. “His resumé speaks for itself and his commitment to this university and community make him a great addition to the Carolina men’s basketball program.”
Tanner, a 1990 graduate and former Morehead-Cain Scholar at UNC, has represented 40 NBA first-round draft picks and six inductees into the Naismith Hall of Fame: former UNC star Vince Carter, Ray Allen, Tamika Catchings, Tim Duncan, Grant Hill and Dominique Wilkins.
“Both of my kids and I went to Carolina and we owe so much as a family to this university,” Tanner said in a statement. “This is such an exciting opportunity, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.”