UNC’s first-round defeat to the VCU Rams wasn’t just an upset; it was part of a bigger concern for the team. Beyond all the on-court struggles and lack of momentum, Hubert Davis’ team was scarred by a known nemesis in the season half yet again, prompting veteran broadcaster Stephen A. Smith to double down on it.

Speaking on the First Take program, Smith placed the Tar Heels and their arch-rival, Duke, side-by-side, while trying to decode the recruiting issues that have widened the gap between these two top ACC teams in this post-Mike Krzyzewski-Roy Williams era. “Here’s what’s inescapable, and I am sick and tired of people just glossing over this. When you look at North Carolina, you must look at Duke; it’s the best basketball rivalry in college basketball. It’s the best,”  Davis said.

“The point I’m trying to make is that we’ve been talking about Cameron Boozer, Duke, Jon Scheyer, and how exceptional a coach he is as the successor of Mike Krzyzewski. All the questions we have about Hubert Davis, and it’s primarily due to recruiting,” Smith added. “Even though Krzyzewski had his players, Roy Williams was in a Sweet 16, Final Four, bringing you a couple of National Championships. He wasn’t messing around. That hasn’t been the case with Davis.”

Two veteran coaches, Krzyzewski and Williams, left the program around the same time, leaving behind two ACC powerhouses. But their graph has varied massively since then. With Scheyer, Duke saw a seamless transition, consistently making deep runs at the March Madness.

On the other hand, Davis’s silver lining is a runner-up finish in 2021-22, not even an Elite Eight since then, and the first-round 82-78 OT defeat this season just worsens things. And, as Stephen A. Smith said, the primary contributor in this regard is recruiting. “This is not a conversation about Hubert Davis. Does he know basketball? Can he coach the game? But can you recruit against Duke?” Smith said.

“You can get knocked off in the first or second round, we get that, but what we can’t do is look at Duke and feel like they’re a program head and shoulders above Carolina, when you’re eight miles down the road. If they get one dude, you get another; if you get one dude, they probably get another, that’s how it’s supposed to be,” Smith further added.

It isn’t that the Tar Heels have had absolutely disastrous recruiting classes in the last few years. In fact, they were No.5 and No.7 in the last two seasons in this regard. But the truth is that Duke has just been slightly better, landing the best classes in two of the last three years. In terms of the top recruits, too, the Tar Heels have sort of hit back, too, boasting Caleb Wilson for Cameron Boozer.

But the overall depth in recruiting classes and commitments is where the Tar Heels have heavily lacked. For instance, if you look at the current roster, the Tar Heels have major signings in No. 54 Derek Dixon, No. 59 Isaiah Denis, and Wilson. On the other hand, Scheyer’s program has roped in the likes of No. 16 Cayden Boozer and No. 15 Nikolas Khamenia.

This enormous difference in the depth of these recruit classes perfectly underscores the concerning reality that both teams once stood in the same bracket. All of it has played its part in undermining the Tar Heels’ roster over the last few seasons, especially this season, when the lack of roster quality was starkly evident following the first-round defeat to the VCU Rams.

On the other hand, the Blue Devils have enjoyed steady growth and are through to the second round of March Madness after dominating the ACC play. If the Tar Heels want to bridge this standards gap, the foremost thing they will have to improve is their recruiting.

Veteran Analyst Pinpoints How Hubert Davis Can Improve His Recruiting

Following a disastrous conclusion to the 2025-26 season, there’s no doubt that North Carolina will require major changes going into the next season. With the likes of Caleb Wilson possibly moving to the NBA and seniors like Seth Trimble leaving, this job is just getting tougher for the Tar Heels staff, led by head coach Hubert Davis.

Ahead of this mammoth task, veteran analyst Seth Greenberg has shared an idea for how Davis can scale his recruiting. “One thing about Hubert, he has to better understand the business of college basketball and how it’s changed,” Greenberg said. “And he’s got to have a staff that reflects that, that has the contacts and the network.”

In the last season, Davis himself has taken charge of recruiting for the program, which, as mentioned, didn’t produce substantial results. Thus, Greenberg’s assessment sits out quite well in this regard as a separate team, especially focused on recruiting, would definitely help improve this situation.

On a brighter scheme of things, the Tar Heels’ 2026 recruiting class has gone pretty well for now. Davis’s only silver lining is a runner-up finish in 2021-22, as the team hasn’t even reached the Elite Eight since. Davis’ team has signed players like five-star recruit Dylan Mingo and four-star Maximo Adams. This provides some relief amid a precarious situation developing for the North Carolina Tar Heels. On the back of these recruits, Davis will hope to close the current gap with Duke.