OK, faithful GetReligion readers, you know the drill.
Especially those of you who are among the small circle of our readers who join millions and millions of ordinary Americans in caring about sports news and personalities. In this case, we are talking about March Madness, the NCAA hoops festival that — taken as a whole — is a much more symbolic and emotional sports event than that whole SuperBowl thing.
Sure enough, the final act of this year’s tournament features a sports hero-coach who wasn’t supposed to be there, at least not this year, at this stage of his career. Here is the top of a typical news story about him, care of the always secular USA Today team:
NEW ORLEANS — Kansas coach Bill Self had a positive opinion of Hubert Davis long before North Carolina staged a thrilling run to the national championship game.
Self ran into Tar Heels' All-American big man Armando Bacot when both teams were in Fort Worth two weeks ago for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
"I went up to Armando and said, 'congratulations: are you having fun?' And the first thing he said: 'I love playing for Coach Davis.' That's the first thing he said to me," said Self, who had a relationship with Bacot from coaching him on the FIBA U18 team back in 2018. "So I think right there is a testament to how good (Davis) is, how special, and the relationship he has with his guys."
On April 5 of last year, Davis was named as the replacement to legendary UNC coach Roy Williams. For parts of 2021-22, it looked as if it would take time for Davis to transform the blue-blood back into a perennial power. Then the Tar Heels found another gear – starting with a March 5 road upset of rival Duke, an outcome they replicated in this Final Four to send Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski into retirement.
So what makes this man unique? What does he have to say when he is asked to explain who he is, why he does what he does and what Makes. Him. Tick. as a man and a coach?
Consider this quote, in one of those high-profile press conferences before the Final Four:
"My faith and foundation is firmly in my relationship with Jesus. It just is.