Nine of the 12 upperclassmen who laced it up for Monday’s North Carolina-Wake Forest tilt have been in the transfer portal at least once. RJ Davis is one of the three others who chose to stay.
Monday was supposed to be another day in the five-month gauntlet that is the college basketball season. The 19th game of Davis’ senior season; the 120th of Davis’ UNC career. No banners were hung. No rings were won. It was an important ACC game with 12 more consequential ones on tap.
But it didn’t feel like just another ho-hum, regular-season contest.
Hunter Sallis might be a first-round pick, Boopie Miller has been one of the ACC’s best transfers, Cam Hildreth is a flat-out dawg, Elliot Cadeau is a five-star prospect, Cormac Ryan hit his 238th career 3-pointer, but Davis was the best guard amidst a game filled with multiple maestros.
Thirty-six points on 23 shots with all of them coming his way. He killed Wake Forest with silky-smooth drives and ridiculously tough finishes through contact. His back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second half broke a 41-41 tie. He softly kissed floaters off the glass and tumbled ’em off the lip of the rim.
Davis could do no wrong for a UNC club that sits 16-3 and a perfect 8-0 in the ACC after an 85-64 thrashing.
“We watched his film — he makes those shots,” Sallis said, via Demon Deacon Digest. “I felt like he saw a couple go in. He saw a big basket in the second half for sure.”
Jay Williams dubbed Davis as the best player in the country. For a night, it looked apropos even though the National Player of the Year award is already in the mail for that big fella at Purdue.
Best guard in America? Davis certainly has a strong case.
- RJ Davis, North Carolina: 21.0 points 3.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 41.7% from 3-point range
- Isaiah Stevens, Colorado State: 17.2 points, 7.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 43% from 3-point range
- Mark Sears, Alabama: 19.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 47% from 3-point range
- Jamal Shead, Houston: 11.1 points 6.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 steals
- Tyler Kolek, Marquette: 14.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists
- Tristen Newton, UConn: 15.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists
Kolek, Newton, Sears and Sallis are examples of what the opportunity the transfer portal can provide, but Davis is an example of what can happen when you stay. Davis’ floater that slit Wake Forest’s throat on Monday wasn’t always a strength. Davis shot just 27.8% on that shot way back in 2020-21 when he stormed into UNC’s rotation as a true freshman and hasn’t ever left.
“That’s a shot that he’s worked on a lot throughout his career and feels really comfortable and he was able to hit that,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “He’s been in a great rhythm all season. It was the first time as a player and as a coach that I can remember the Smith Center crowd chanting a player’s name. And I’m just really proud of him. I think, you know, he’s had a terrific career but I feel like this year, he’s finally getting noticed and I’m just really happy for you.”
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Davis’ 120th game was memorable. His 140th game could be for all the marbles on that second Monday in April for the National Championship. UNC can start dreaming of that stage again. Davis can only hope to bottle up whatever he had on this Monday for that most important Monday.
“I’m in a zone,” Davis said, via Inside Carolina. “I feel like I’m in my backyard just out there hooping. I think it’s a zone that every hooper knows. When you’re in that zone, it’s hard to get out of. You can’t hear anything, you just see the ball in the basket.”
