UNC Men’s Basketball Players Open Up About Mental Health Struggles
Following a tough week in January which saw Carolina lose two road games at Miami and Wake Forest by a combined 50 points, senior wing Leaky Black came into practice expecting nothing less than a scorched-earth approach from head coach Hubert Davis. What Black encountered instead surprised him: a peppy, optimistic Davis talking up his team to prepare it for a three-game homestand.
Carolina would win all three of those games, and after the first one, against Virginia Tech, Black credited his coach for being conscious of his players’ mental health.
“The social media in this generation, obviously we look at [it], we see everything,” Black said. “[Davis] knows at the end of the day, we’re just kids. This game can take a lot on you mentally, and he knows that.”
The Tar Heels would extend their winning streak to four games with a road win at Louisville the following week. A key three-pointer from Black in overtime clinched the 90-83 win. When asked about the confidence to take the shot, Black went deeper into his mental health struggles.
“Before every game, my guy [Director of Player and Team Development] Jackie Manuel, he prays with me,” Black said. “I have really bad anxiety, and I never really knew that until this last summer, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s anxiety that I was feeling.’
“He said he’s seen himself in me, and he went through the same thing. And every day, he’s just been praying with me, getting me to relax, meditation, stuff like that. And it’s really been helping a lot.”
Black’s comments, along with him revealing that he speaks with a therapist, went viral on Twitter. And as it turns out, he’s not alone on the team in his openness about mental health.
Following a career-best performance in a win over Florida State, Carolina freshman Dontrez Styles said he thought his recent string of strong play was due to improved mental health.
“I just feel like I got better mentally,” Styles said. “I’m at a better place now. I’ve been talking to therapists, they’ve been helping me a lot.”
Carolina Athletics as a whole is making an effort to provide mental health resources for its players, with three sports psychologists and a social worker on staff. They all work under the Mental Health and Psychology Performance Program.
When Davis was asked about his players’ openness with their struggles, he mentioned a team policy: players are required to stop by his office three times a week, and they can’t talk about basketball.
“I really believe the time shared with them off the court, and them seeing us as fathers, as husbands, as not just coaches, allows them to be open and vulnerable,” he said. “And I’m glad that they’re talking about the things that they are working through and working on. I think that’s very important to be able to have a voice, and feel comfortable to be able to use that voice. And I’m very proud of our guys for being able to do that.”
And after an 88-79 overtime victory over Syracuse on Senior Night at the Smith Center, Davis remarked that the team’s chemistry is the best it has been all season. The 22-8 Tar Heels seem to be finding their groove at the right time as they play for a possible NCAA Tournament bid.
No matter the result Saturday at Duke, it seems Davis is creating a winning environment around his program.
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