As for UNC declining the NIT, this was the correct move; not b/c of the "this is beneath us" factor, but b/c of a lot of behind-the-scenes noise that Hubert and I'm sure Bubba and others want to let die and move away from. Hubert alluded to it after the UVA loss, saying that instead of dealing with 18 guys in the locker-room, he was confronted throughout the season by NIL, boosters, family members, agents, etc. And of course the elephant in the room of a player tapping a teammate's girlfriend. As thought by many at the time, a couple of players came back this year not so much to compete for a national championship, but the NIL $$ made a better biz decision than a 2nd-round NBA deal or playing overseas.
UNC does a great job of keeping their dirty laundry in-house and under wraps; not sure what was more impressive: their undetected cheating of almost 20 years, or the "what's the big deal?" response after getting caught and much of the the media and NCAA nodding in agreement.
I think Hubert's a good guy, and even though he's a "new" coach, he's been around this stuff long enough to share some of the frustrations of how the game has changed which probably sent Roy into retirement.
A lot of intrigue behind this year's team and program, and the best way to keep it buried is to let everyone go their separate ways out of the spotlight.