Hubert Davis admits he is 'not a huge fan of flying' ahead of NCAA Tournament

No. 6 seed North Carolina opens play in the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Thursday. Their opponent? No. 11 seed VCU, winners of the Atlantic-10 Regular Season and Conference Championship.

Luckily for the Tar Heels, however, the game will be played in Greenville, SC. That is just three-and-a-half hours away from Chapel Hill, making the drive quite easy for North Carolina fans who want to support their team. Along with fans making the trip on the ground, North Carolina‘s team will travel to Greenville via a bus, instead of a plane.

During North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis‘ media appearance on Tuesday, he revealed he isn’t the biggest fan of flying on a plane. He much prefers a bus ride, or even a train ride, he hilariously stated.

“I like bus rides. I’m not a huge fan of flying,” Davis said. “I’m a good flyer, unless it’s like thunder storms. I just don’t want that. The number one app on my phone is The Weather Channel, so I’m constantly looking at that. But, I love bus rides. When I played here, we bussed everywhere. There were only eight (teams) in the ACC. We bussed to Maryland and Clemson.

“The only time we flew was in a midweek, 9:00 PM game. Coach (Dean) Smith wanted us to get a charter so we could get back and go to class the next day. The only time we actually had to get on a plane was my senior year, when we went to Florida State. So, I like the bus. I wish we could bus or train everywhere. That would be fantastic.”

North Carolina entering fourth NCAA Tournament under Hubert Davis

North Carolina is embarking on its fourth NCAA Tournament run of the Hubert Davis era. The alum’s tenure certainly started out strong, as the Tar Heels made a run to the National Championship Game in 2022 as a No. 8 seed prior to falling to No. 1 seed Kansas. This included a win over No. 2 seed Duke in the Final Four, marking the end of Mike Krzyzewski‘s legendary coaching career.

Since then, however, the Tar Heels have failed to advance past the Sweet Sixteen. They opened the 2022-23 season ranked No. 1 in the AP Preseason Poll, but missed the Tournament all together. In 2024, they fell to No. 4 seed Alabama in the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 1 seed. Last season, the No. 11 seeded Tar Heels fell to No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the Round of 32 after knocking off San Diego State in the First Four.

It will certainly be an uphill battle for Carolina to make a true run in this year’s Tournament, as star freshman forward Caleb Wilson be unavailable. If the Tar Heels are able to make it past VCU, they will face the winner of No. 3 Illinois/No. 14 Penn in the Round of 32.