RJ Davis honored at halftime ceremony during UNC-Clemson game: 'I love you guys'

Shelby Swanson, The News & Observer on Mar 3, 2026

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The North Carolina Tar Heels may have been down by three points at the break Tuesday against Clemson, but the Smith Center crowd was soon brought to its feet by a former player who walked out to midcourt wearing a Canadian tuxedo.

The UNC men’s basketball program honored RJ Davis — the last player of the Roy Williams era and a five-year staple in Chapel Hill — with a halftime ceremony Tuesday night at halftime of the No. 17 Tar Heels’ contest against Clemson.

Davis, joined on the court by his parents, was treated to a standing ovation as UNC announcer Jones Angell read off his myriad accomplishments in Chapel Hill. The former Tar Heel and current player for the South Bay Lakers G League squad kept his eyes glued, for the most part, to the rafters — where a spotlight shone on his No. 4 jersey, the latest addition.

“Being here for five years, feels like 10 years,” Davis joked, part of a brief speech following his ceremony. “The hard work I put in each and every year ... I came a long way. This is home for me, and no one can ever take that away from me. I love you guys.”

Davis’ illustrious career saw him surpass former teammate Armando Bacot to trail only Tyler Hansbrough on North Carolina’s all-time scoring list. He ended his career as the third-highest scorer in ACC history with 2,710 points, as well as the conference’s all-time leader in double-figure scoring games with 139. Davis played in more games than any other player in ACC history (174) — thanks to the extra year of eligibility he and many other players gained during the COVID-19 pandemic — and never missed a game in five seasons.

During his sophomore campaign, the former UNC standout was a member of Hubert Davis’ “Iron 5” — the starting lineup of Davis, Bacot, Caleb Love, Leaky Black and Brady Manek that made a run to the NCAA title game as a No. 8 seed in 2022.

In 2024, Davis was named ACC player of the year, becoming the 16th Tar Heel to win the honor and UNC’s first conference POY since Justin Jackson in 2017. He was also a consensus first-team All American, won the Jerry West Award (the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s award for the nation’s top shooting guard), and was a finalist for the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award.

The ceremony was originally scheduled for UNC’s game against Louisville on Feb. 23. But a severe winter storm in the Northeast disrupted travel, causing the White Plains, N.Y., native’s family to get stuck up north.

But the timing worked out so Davis could have his moment at North Carolina’s final home game of the season. And perhaps it’s fitting that Davis’ jersey celebration was moved to Tuesday’s Senior Night contest against Clemson. The Tar Heels were celebrating Elijah Davis and Seth Trimble on that night — the latter of which was a mentee of RJ Davis during the three seasons they shared in Chapel Hill.

After Davis’ last collegiate game — a 71-64 loss to Ole Miss in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year — Trimble got choked up with emotion as he spoke about how much Davis’ mentorship meant to him.

“I’ve learned so much from RJ,” Trimble said last March. “The second I stepped on campus he was there. I asked him, ‘Hey, could we work out in the summer?’ Basically, I asked, ‘Hey, can I follow you? Can I do everything you do?’”

“And I’m fortunate enough for him to just accept me at such an early time and just share with me all the knowledge that he’s shared over the years,” Trimble continued. “I’ve learned how to be a better leader. I’ve learned how to be a more confident basketball player. I’ve learned a whole lot from RJ.”

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