Parents of North Carolina men’s basketball players say NIT fate was left up to the team

North Carolina men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis allowed his players to vote on whether to play in the NIT, and the school opted out of the tournament after the majority of players voted against it, the fathers of three Tar Heels told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday.

The voting results took effect when the Tar Heels failed to make the NCAA Tournament, said the fathers of junior guard Caleb Love, junior swingman Puff Johnson and sophomore guard D’Marco Dunn.

Davis allowed the team to vote, according to Dennis Love, Gilbert Johnson and Greg Dunn.

“I think it should’ve been Coach’s decision, not the kids’ decision,” Gilbert Johnson said.  “They should have played in the NIT. Win or lose, they needed that experience.”

Later Tuesday, Johnson said he had no knowledge of a player vote.

The vote was anonymous, said Greg Dunn.

“I thought it would have been best to give the players more time to play more minutes,” Greg Dunn said, adding that his son voted in favor of playing.

Dennis Love said, “The competitor in me says let’s go play, let’s go win. But I can see where maybe Coach looked at it and said, if we play and we lose, then it’s more hurt feelings because we didn’t live up to the expectations.”

North Carolina, led by coach Hubert Davis, was selected as the No. 1 team in preseason polls.

Players had a role in the decision, according to Steve Kirschner, associate athletic director for sports information and media relations at North Carolina.

“Players, coaches and staff all had input into the decision that Coach Davis and (athletic director) Bubba Cunningham ultimately made,” Kirshner said by text message, while also saying North Carolina would not address “all the details of the process that went into the decision not to play in the NIT.”

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SITTING OUT: North Carolina coach Hubert Davis explains why Tar Heels men turned down NIT invitation

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/parents-north-carolina-mens-basketball-211707161.html?src=rss

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2023-03-15 03:33:47

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