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. And my mother was a Christian and she begged me to go to church growing up. And I didn't want to go. I wasn't interested in it. My mom used to always say that Jesus had a plan for me, plans for hope and a future, plans not to harm you, plans to prosper you — Jeremiah 29:11. And at the time growing up, I didn't understand it and I didn't listen to it."

The coach continued, referring back to a previous UNC legend, his own coach:

"One of the things that (Tar Heels Coach Dean) Smith used to do was make all the freshmen go to church," Davis pointed out. "And as I went to church, only because Coach Smith and (assistant) Coach Guthridge encouraged me to go to church, I started to understand what my mom was talking about. I started to understand the sacrifice that Jesus made for me and how much He loves me, and two days before my junior year of college, I became a Christian."

He added, "Instead of being upset that Jesus has taken away the most beautiful person in my life in my mom, I'm thankful every day that He gave me the best that I could ever have for 16 years. My faith in Christ is the foundation of who I am. When I say that I will walk this path in my own shoes and my personality, my own shoes and my personality is my faith."

That’s strong stuff, the kind of press-conference material that is really, really hard to ignore.

But these quotes are not from USA Today, of course. Unless I have missed something, you will not see this stirring mini-sermon about this coach’s life and values in any mainstream news publication. You will find them, of course, in Christian-market and conservative publications (in this case, a feature at CBN.com). Clearly, this is the stuff of “conservative” news, as opposed to “real” news.

Meanwhile, here is a general Google News search for “Hubert Davis,” “Smith,” “church” and “Jesus.” Did I miss something important?

But, back to the worldview of USA Today. Here is the money passage from that feature:

Coach Davis' secret sauce? He doesn't shy away from putting emotions front and center. Often seen animated on the sidelines working NCAA officials, the 51-year-old coach said he believes playing with more of an emotional edge has been the difference in getting the No. 8-seeded Tar Heels to play their best basketball in March. 

"I love emotion," Davis said. "I felt like at the beginning of the year consistently we weren't playing with emotion. And then that changed. It doesn't guarantee wins, but it does put yourself in a position to maybe do something special. That's what these kids are doing right now." 

Both of these extended quotes are valid and important, of course.

Which one do you think, from the Hubert Davis point of view, is more central to his life and work?

OK, GetReligion readers, you know the drill.

What is the journalism logic for ignoring this man’s own insights into his own heart and mind? Why leave the spiritual dimension of out this story, especially when the coach discussed it so openly during a prime media event?

Just asking.

FIRST IMAGE: Screen shot from uncredited social-media image at Tarheeltimes.com