Roughly 1,080 miles separate the Dean E. Smith Center and Allen Fieldhouse.

Despite the distance between the home arenas of North Carolina basketball and Kansas basketball, the connection between the Tar Heels and Jayhawks is one that was forged when Dean Smith showed up at KU in 1949 to play for Phog Allen.

After helping the Jayhawks win a national championship in 1952 and wrapping up his playing career in 1953, Smith was an assistant coach at Kansas and Air Force before taking the same role for the Tar Heels from 1958-61.

The last time Kansas hosted UNC at Allen Fieldhouse in 1960. Smith was 29 years old in his final season as an assistant before becoming head coach of the Tar Heels for the next 36 years.

Larry Brown, a player at UNC in the 1960s, went on to become the head coach at Kansas, where he led the Jayhawks to a national championship in 1988.

Roy Williams, an assistant coach under Smith at UNC from 1978-88, left the Tar Heels for his first head-coaching job at Kansas, where he spent 15 seasons before returning to Chapel Hill for the final 18 years of his career.

No. 7 UNC (1-0) and No. 1 Kansas (1-0) meet again at Allen Fieldhouse on Friday (7 p.m., ESPN2) in a top-10 matchup between the bluest of bluebloods.

“The unique relationships of Coach Smith and Coach Williams and Coach Brown, and the legacy that they have left at both places — both institutions — is rare and unique,” UNC’s fourth-year coach Hubert Davis said Wednesday at the Smith Center.

Davis was recruited by Williams, but arrived in 1988 as Williams was preparing for his first season in Lawrence.

“He left me. That’s why he hired me, ‘cause he owed me,” Davis said with a laugh.

It’s a 36-year relationship that molded Davis into a player that would become one of the top shooters in the NBA and a coach who led UNC to a national championship appearance in his debut season.

“You always have to have somebody to advocate for you and give you an opportunity, a chance,” Davis said.

Dean Smith gave Davis that chance and opportunity to play for the Tar Heels, but “Coach Williams did, also, in a number of different ways,” Davis added.

“He was the one who advocated for me to get an offer from Coach Smith. … I’m not here without Coach Williams. And that goes all the way back to: I’m not here as a player, as a student without Coach Williams.”

Hubert Davis, RJ Davis reflect on UNC vs Kansas in 2022 national championship

The Tar Heels and Jayhawks have combined for more than 4,700 wins, 37 Final Four appearances and 10 NCAA championships.

The programs have split 12 meetings, but the Jayhawks earned the latest victory by beating the Heels in the 2022 national title game.

Hubert Davis, who lost as a player against a Roy Williams-led Kansas team at the 1991 Final Four, saw his 2022 squad come up just short of cutting down the nets in New Orleans.

“I watch it every year, multiple times. I’ve watched it a lot,” Davis said. “Wish we could’ve gotten one more extra rebound.”

Leading 69-68 with 1:27 left, Kansas forward David McCormack pulled down an offensive rebound and made a hook shot to give the Jayhawks the lead. UNC wouldn’t recover.

“We were just one rebound away from winning it,” said fifth-year guard RJ Davis, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds as a sophomore against Kansas.

Davis watched the game “over and over again” the following year, agonizing at missing out on the chance to win a national championship that season. UNC, which had a 15-point lead at halftime, had to watch Jayhawks celebrate after the final buzzer.

“It was definitely heartbreaking for me,” RJ Davis said. “A lot of emotions. … It took a while for the tears to come, but they ended up going right down my face.”

Keys for UNC at Kansas, Allen Fieldhouse

Hubert Davis and RJ Davis are embracing the challenge of competing at Allen Fieldhouse, arguably the best homecourt advantage in college basketball.

“It’s different. Kansas, Allen Fieldhouse, has its own unique atmosphere that none of our guys have seen before. … It’ll be fun for us,” Hubert Davis said. “It’s something to be able to play on the road, to play in that atmosphere, to be able to execute against one of the better teams in the country.”

Hubert Davis praised the all-around effectiveness of 7-foot-2 center Hunter Dickinson, an All-American for the Jayhawks. He also noted the “elite” uptempo pace and defensive intensity of Bill Self’s squads, saying UNC has to improve its transition defense and take advantage of its opportunities at the rim.

RJ Davis, like his head coach, said UNC has to “make the easy play” and be better at finishing after missing double-digit layups in the season opener against Elon.

“You only get these types of games, these types of moments once in a while,” RJ Davis said. “It’s definitely something that you want to look back on and definitely something that you want to take full advantage of.”

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Hubert Davis, RJ Davis discuss UNC basketball history with Kansas