IN OCTOBER, a bus pulled up to a hotel in Orlando, Florida, and members of the North Carolina men's college basketball team began to stream aboard. The Tar Heels were traveling out of the city -- where they had watched former UNC star Cole Anthony and the Magic play the New York Knicks the previous night -- to Gainesville for a scrimmage against Florida. Hubert Davis took his seat at the front of the bus, the spot reserved for head coaches on those trips.
Davis had not felt much pressure since he'd accepted the role of head coach six months earlier.