The new UNC men’s basketball coach, Hubert Davis, has completed his assistant coaching staff, which will consist of former UNC players (including Davis himself), for the first time in Carolina’s history.
Former UNC center and Final Four 2005 Most outstanding player Sean May will be promoted from director of basketball operations to assistant coach. May has been on Roy Williams’ staff for six years. Brad Frederick, a former player who played for both Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge, has been on Williams’ team for eight years and four as a full-time assistant. Frederick will remain in that role.
However, there will be new assistants – Jeff Lebo, who played for North Carolina for Smith and was coach since 1990, including as head coach from 1998-2017, before resigning for East Carolina.
May’s teammate Jackie Manuel, who has been an assistant coach since 2011, most recently as a member of the UNC women’s basketball coaching staff as director of staff players Courtney Banghart. Manuel will be the player’s personnel director, the position of the staff right under a full position of assistant coach. Both May and Manuel played for former UNC head coach Matt Doherty and Williams.
“I wanted staff to go to North Carolina and play in North Carolina,” Davis said in a statement announcing the moves. “I think you have a great opportunity to do this job well if you have experienced it as a player. Of course, it’s not the only way, but given that there are so many former players training, it’s a great way to build My First Staff as Head Coach It was important for each of the assistants to have a connection with Coach Smith, Coach Guthridge, Coach (Matt) Doherty and Coach Williams. “It’s a huge incentive for me to build this staff. Carolina basketball is all about us and we wanted a staff with that diversity of experience to give our players the most.”
Williams’ former goalkeeper, Kendall Marshall, who was hired as a recruiter and assistant director of basketball operations in 2019, was not detained by Davis. Also released was Steve Robinson, who had been Williams’ top assistant for 26 years.
“I also want to thank Steve Robinson and Kendall Marshall, who will not go any further with us, for everything they have done for Carolina Basketball,” Davis said. “Coach Rob came to Chapel Hill with coach Williams and was a huge part of every Tar Heel win and national championship in the last 18 years. I really appreciate everything he did to help me develop as a coach and as a person for the last nine years, I spent with the staff.
“I didn’t get a chance to coach Kendall, who is one of our greatest goalkeepers, but I’m proud to be back to finish his studies and start his coaching trip to Carolina. I only wish Kendall and Steve good days ahead. “
However, other staff members are retained: Eric Hoots, who has been on Williams’ team for 17 years as a key contributor behind the scenes and, most recently, Director of Player Development, will be promoted to Chief Operating Officer. basketball. Jonas Sahratian, who has been with Williams in Kansas since 1999 as a strength and conditioning coach, will remain the same. Athletic coach Doug Halverson has been on Williams’ staff since 2005 and will remain in that role.
“Jeff, Sean, Brad and Jackie have all played for one or more of them and Hoots has been on the UNC team for 20 years. Each of the coaches and Jackie have played, coached or worked in college basketball for a long time, but “They connect with today’s generation of players. And that’s also extremely important,” Davis said.
“They have been part of national championships, ACC championships and the biggest rivalries in college basketball and are well positioned to recruit players who will thrive academically and athletically in Carolina, will help us win at the highest level. level and, hopefully, to get to the big things in basketball and life. “
May has been director of basketball operations for four years. May entered the NBA as a junior after winning MOP honors and leading UNC to the 2005 national title. Injuries affected his NBA career after he was ranked 13th overall by the Charlotte Bobcats since then.
May continued to play internationally until 2014, before Williams hired him as a player development director in the fall of 2015. He was promoted to director of basketball operations in 2017.
“The University of North Carolina means everything to me. I played here, I won a championship here, that’s where I decided to learn the other side of basketball when I joined Coach Williams’ staff six years ago. Now I have the opportunity to do what “I’m passionate about learning basketball and helping our players have what my coaches have given me – an incredible experience. I’m really lucky to have the opportunity to do that in the place I love,” he said. May in release.
“Coach Davis has been a role model and mentor for me for a long time. I’m excited to walk this path with Hubert and support his vision of where Carolina Basketball is moving forward. He has an incredible knowledge of the game, a amazing. work ethic and he knows how he wants the program to run. He’s played and worked here and he knows what it takes to be successful. “
Frederick has been coaching since 2000, when he joined Williams ‘former assistant Kevin Stallings’ team at Vanderbilt, where he stayed for 14 years. He joined Williams’ staff in 2014 and was promoted to assistant coach in 2017.
Bob, Frederick’s father, was also Williams’ former athletic director in Kansas, and the two had a close relationship.
“After I was lucky enough to play for coach Smith and coach Guthridge and then work for coach Williams, I was able to see and learn from the best every day. Coach Smith was a brilliant basketball coach and his attention to every detail of training and during the games was an incredible learning experience for me, “Frederick said in a statement.
“No matter how important his work on the basketball floor was, the way he led the program and developed the Carolina family made an even bigger impression on me. Coach Williams was able to take what Coach Smith built and have an incredible amount of success, while maintaining Carolina Way. I am motivated every day and I will work tirelessly to help coach Davis bring the same level of success and joy to our current and future Carolina teams. “
Lebo, one of the new assistants, has also been a coach for a long time – 28 years and 20 as head coach. He won 327 games at four schools: Tennessee Tech, Chattanooga, six years at Auburn and then eight at East Carolina.
Lebo played for Smith from 1985-89, and his senior year was Davis’ freshman season. Lebo was a senior captain in 1989, and UNC finished with 29 wins and a top 10. Lebo’s son, Creighton, is already part of the UNC team.
“It was interesting for me to hear from Hubert when he got the job. I’m so happy for him and happy for Carolina Basketball, because apart from coach Williams, we have a guy who loves Carolina as much as everyone in general.the world and is someone who is ready to take us to the next level.I played with Hubert, I have been training for a long time and the chance to return to Chapel Hill and train with Hubert and have my son, Creighton “Playing here as a walk is a dream come true for me,” Lebo said in a statement.
“I like the interaction with the players and the competitiveness that college basketball training brings every day, whether it’s playing, coaching, winning and also recruiting, college basketball is undergoing massive changes, but one thing I can bring to its staff Hubert is that I’ve been away from UNC for a while and I can bring a different perspective on the things I’ve experienced in 20 years as a head coach. “
Manuel was one of the three captains of Williams’ first national team in 2005 and was one of the best defensive players in the league during his career. He began his career in Carolina under Doherty, playing for him for two years before playing for Williams for the past two years.
He played abroad for several years after graduating in 2005 and then joined the UNC team as an assistant strength and conditioning coach before joining the team of teammate Wes Miller at the UNCG to begin his career as an assistant. After a stop in Valparaiso, he followed Williams’ former assistant, CB McGrath, to UNC-Wilmington to be his assistant. McGrath was released after a 5-14 start in the 2019-20 season, but Manuel would find a home when UNC women’s coach Courtney Banghart hired him to serve as the players’ staff director.
“This is home, a place where I grew up and became a man. It’s an opportunity for things to come full circle for me. I always dreamed of working at UNC when I joined the coach,” Manuel said in the statement. “I love Hubert. There was always something in his spirit from the first time I met him many years ago, when I was a player. I look up because of his character and a man of faith. He represents all things. I think the leader.
“Coach Williams and Coach Doherty have unlocked the potential in me by challenging and taking care of me and those things have changed my life forever. I want the opportunity to do the same for our players. We want to create a life-changing environment. to our players, to help them become better students, better players and once better husbands and fathers. “
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