Hubert Davis slides over on bench to succeed Roy Williams

PHOTO: Hubert Davis instructing the Tar Heels in a team huddle. By TOM SHANAHAN The North Carolina tradition fueled the logic and speculation. Now it’s reality. The Tar Heels promoted assistant Hubert Davis to head coach, following a pattern of that dates back 70 years – long enough to encompasses Dean Smith sliding over from assistant to head coach in the 1961-62 season. The job opened up only four days ago when Roy Williams announced his surprise retirement.…

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Duke’s young players still making strides, but the team is still searching

PHOTO (Duke Athletics): Henry Coleman at practice. By TOM SHANAHAN Duke coach basketball Mike Krzyzewski’s 74th birthday is Saturday. He will be at PNC Arena for the Blue Devils’ a 4 p.m. tipoff against N.C. State. How he celebrates another year remains to be determined with the final score. But even though he’s almost a decade beyond the traditional retirement age, he remains more active basketball coach than retired U.S. Army captain, the former his identity before a…

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Duke was not the more mature ACC team at Virginia Tech

PHOTO (Duke Athletics): Jeremy Roach drives on Virginia Tech's Wabissa Bede. By TOM SHANAHAN Duke demonstrated it can overcome a double-digit first half deficit, rallying from 16 points down a week ago to beat Boston College at Cameron Indoor Stadium. But Boston College isn’t Virginia Tech. And the road in the ACC is different. Duke managed to close an 18-point first-half deficit to 11 by intermission and trailed by only one one point on Matthew Hurt’s three-pointer with…

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