New UNC men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis has finalized his assistant coaching staff, which will be made up completely of former UNC players (including Davis himself) for the first time in Carolina history.
Former UNC center and 2005 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Sean May will be promoted from director of basketball operations to assistant coach. May has been on Roy Williams’ staff for six years. Brad Frederick, former walk-on who played for both Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge, has been on Williams’ staff for eight years and four as a full-fledged assistant. Frederick will stay on in that role.
There will be new assistants, though — Jeff Lebo, who played at North Carolina for Smith and has been in coaching since 1990, including as a head coach from 1998-2017 before resigning his position at East Carolina.
May’s teammate Jackie Manuel, who’s been an assistant coach since 2011, most recently as a member of UNC women’s basketball coaching staff as Courtney Banghart’s director of player personnel. Manuel will be the director of player personnel, the staff position just underneath a full assistant coaching position. Both May and Manuel played for former UNC head coach Matt Doherty and for Williams.
“I wanted a staff that went to North Carolina and played at North Carolina,” Davis said in a release announcing the moves. “I think you have a great opportunity to do this job well if you’ve experienced it as a player. It’s not the only way, of course, but given there are so many former players who are coaching, it’s a great way to build my first staff as the head coach. It was important for each of the assistants to have a connection with Coach Smith, Coach Guthridge, Coach (Matt) Doherty and Coach Williams. It connects each of the former head coaches’ personalities to our current team, which was a huge incentive for me in constructing this staff. Carolina basketball is all of them and I wanted a staff that had that diversity of experiences to give the most to our players.”
Former Williams point guard Kendall Marshall, who had been on staff as a recruiter and assistant director of basketball operations since 2019, was not retained by Davis. Also let go was Steve Robinson, who had been Williams’ top assistant for 26 years.
“I also want to thank Steve Robinson and Kendall Marshall, who will not be moving forward with us, for everything they have done for Carolina Basketball,” Davis said. “Coach Rob came to Chapel Hill with Coach Williams and was a huge part of every Tar Heel win and national championship over these past 18 years. I deeply appreciate everything he has done to help me grow as a coach and a person over the nine years we spent together on the staff.
“I didn’t get a chance to coach Kendall, who is one of our greatest point guards, but am proud that he came back to finish his degree and begin his coaching journey at Carolina. I wish Kendall and Steve nothing but great days ahead.”
Other staff members are being retained, though: Eric Hoots, who has been on Williams’ staff for 17 years as a key behind-the-scenes contributor and most recently a director of player development, will be elevated to director of basketball operations. Jonas Sahratian, who’s been with Williams since 1999 at Kansas as his strength and conditioning coach, will stay on as well. Head athletic trainer Doug Halverson has been on Williams’ staff since 2005 and will stay on in that role.
“Jeff, Sean, Brad and Jackie all played for one or more of them and Hoots has been on the UNC staff for 20 years. Each of the coaches and Jackie have played, coached or worked in college basketball for a long time, but they connect with today’s generation of players, as well. And that’s critically important, too,” Davis said.
“They’ve been part of national championships, ACC championships and the greatest rivalries in college basketball and are well positioned to recruit the type players who will thrive academically and athletically at Carolina, help us win at the highest level and hopefully go on to great things in basketball and life.”
May has been in the role of director of basketball operations for four years now. May entered the NBA as a junior after winning MOP honors and leading UNC to the 2005 national title. Injuries plagued his NBA career after he was drafted 13th overall by the then-Charlotte Bobcats.
May continued to play internationally until 2014 before Williams hired him as director of player development in fall of 2015. He was promoted to director of basketball operations in 2017.
“The University of North Carolina means everything to me. I played here, I won a championship here, it’s where I decided to learn the other side of basketball when I joined Coach Williams’ staff six years ago. Now I have an opportunity to do what I am passionate about, which is teach the game of basketball and help our players have what my coaches brought to me – an unbelievable experience. I am really fortunate to have an opportunity to do that at the place I love,” May said in the release.
“Coach Davis has been a role model and mentor for me for a long time. I’m excited to go down this path with Hubert and support his vision of where Carolina Basketball goes forward. He has an unbelievable knowledge of the game, an amazing work ethic and knows how he wants the program to run. He’s played and worked here and knows what it takes to be successful.”
Frederick has been in coaching since 2000 when he joined the staff of former Williams’ assistant Kevin Stallings at Vanderbilt, where he stayed for 14 years. He joined Williams’ staff in 2014 and was elevated to an assistant coach in 2017.
Frederick’s father Bob was also Williams’ former athletic director at Kansas, and the two had a close relationship.
“Having been fortunate enough to play for Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge and then work for Coach Williams, I was able to see and learn from the best on a daily basis. Coach Smith was a brilliant basketball coach and his attention to every detail at practice and during games was an unbelievable learning experience for me,” Frederick said in the release.
“As important as his work on the basketball floor was, the way he ran the program and developed the Carolina family made an even bigger impression on me. Coach Williams was able to take what Coach Smith built and have an incredible amount of success, while maintaining the Carolina Way. I am motivated every day and will work tirelessly to help Coach Davis bring that same level of success and joy to our current and future Carolina teams.”
Lebo, one of the new assistants, has also been in coaching a long time — 28 years, and 20 as a head coach. He won 327 games at four schools: Tennessee Tech, Chattanooga, six years at Auburn and then eight at East Carolina.
Lebo played for Smith from 1985-89, and his senior year was Davis’ freshman season. Lebo was a senior captain in 1989 and UNC finished with 29 wins and a top-10 ranking. Lebo’s son Creighton is already part of the UNC team as a walk-on.
“It was exciting for me to hear from Hubert when he got the job. I’m so happy for him and happy for Carolina Basketball, because other than maybe Coach Williams, we got a guy who loves Carolina as much as anyone in the whole world and is someone who is ready to take us to the next level. I played with Hubert, I’ve been coaching a long time, and the chance to come back to Chapel Hill and coach with Hubert, and have my son, Creighton, playing here as a walk-on, is a dream come true for me,” Lebo said in the release.
“I love the interaction with the players and the competitiveness that coaching college basketball brings each day, whether it’s playing, coaching, winning and also recruiting, College basketball is undergoing massive changes, but one thing I can bring to Hubert’s staff is I have been away from UNC for a while, and I can bring a different perspective on things I experienced in 20 years as a head coach.”
Manuel was one of three captains for Williams’ first national title team in 2005 and was one of the best defensive players in the league during his career. He started his Carolina career under Doherty, playing for him for two years before playing under Williams his final two years.
He played overseas for a few years after graduating in 2005 and then joined UNC’s staff as an assistant strength and conditioning coach before joining teammate Wes Miller’s staff at UNCG to begin his career as an assistant. After a stop at Valparaiso, he followed former Williams’ assistant C.B. McGrath to UNC-Wilmington to be an assistant for him. McGrath was let go after a 5-14 start in the 2019-20 season, but Manuel would find a home when UNC women’s coach Courtney Banghart hired him to serve as director of player personnel.
“This is home, a place where I grew up and became a man. It’s an opportunity for things to come full circle for me. I always dreamt about working at UNC when I got into coaching,” Manuel said in the release. “I love Hubert. There’s always been something about his spirit from the first time I met him many years ago when I was a player. I look up to him because of his character and as a man of faith. He represents all of the things I believe in as a leader.
“Coach Williams and Coach Doherty unlocked the potential in me by challenging me and caring for me and those things changed my life forever. I want the opportunity to do the same for our players. We want to create a life-changing environment for our players to help them become better students, better players and someday better husbands and fathers.”
