"Imagine like if we go in there and we whoop their a**": Years after ruining Coach K's last Duke game, RJ Davis gets candid on UNC's mindset
North Carolina Tar Heels guard RJ Davis has put his collegiate hoops career with his program to a close. On March 21, his team was defeated 71-64 by the sixth-seeded Ole Miss Rebels in the first round of this year's national tournament.
Despite the premature exit, Davis' made his mark on the program, especially by headlining UNC's 2022 NCAA national title game berth. In the Final Four of that run, they defeated the Duke Blue Devils in what was legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski's final game of his four-decade career with his program.
During a guest appearance on the "Run Your Race" podcast on Friday, Davis shared the mindset he and his squad had that eventually ruined "Coach K's" swansong fixture to cap off his career.
"We had nothing to lose, nothing to lose. Like, the pressure was all on them so I'm like, 'This is easy. We just go out there and hoop.' And so, that was really like our mindset like we have nothing to lose. And, imaging like if we go in there and we whoop their a*s like on his last, like come on bro," Davis explained. (1:20)
RJ Davis was then asked about the prior matchups with Krzyzewski and his Blue Devils during the 2021-2022 season as opposed to the national postseason semifinal.
"No, nothing. Like, you had a lot of celebrities there, a lot of former players there just honoring coach K. And, we're going in there like, we just don't care. We could win this game. So, and it's packed, you know how small Cameroon is. It's like a high school gym. It's packed, it's hot. But like, that whole week leading up to it, we like we could really win this game," he said. (2:00)
"Like practices were competitive, high energy and just leading up to them, we walked in like we could really do this. We walked with confidence or some swagger," Davis added.
In his final year with the Hubert Davis-coached Tar Heels, Davis put up 17.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals per contest.
RJ Davis ended his college career as his program's second all-time leading scorer
For his efforts throughout his five-year tenure with the UNC Tar Heels, RJ Davis eventually made his mark by becoming the program's second all-time leading scorer with 2,725 points total. The only one in front of him is former collegiate sensation, Tyler Hansbrough, with 2,872 total markers.
It's unclear yet where RJ Davis will be heading now that his college basketball career has wrapped up with UNC. But if he does declare for the 2025 NBA Draft, he'll have until June 25 later this year to keep his stock afloat so that a team can pick him up.