NEW ORLEANS — Hubert Davis Jr. had it all right there in front of him, the strand in his hand atop the ladder on top of the college basketball world, basking in the sunshine of that One Shining Moment he had dreamed about all his life, for himself and for his school.

North Carolina had a 15-point halftime lead, which means only 20 minutes stood between him and history as the first rookie coach to win a national championship.

Heartbreak for Hubert Davis Jr. instead.

The Kansas Jayhawks can’t get March Madness 2020 back, when they were convinced they would have cut down the nets inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

But on this Monday night, they made the most of their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with a Comeback For the Ages when they stormed back, as if willed by the Ghost of Danny Manning and the Miracles, for a classic 72-69 victory that wasn’t decided until the last, desperate minute.

Courageous Armando Bacot, playing on a bum ankle and dominating the glass anyway, slipped and lost the ball and came up hopping with 38.5 seconds left.

David McCormack bullied Brady Manek for a chippie inside. Caleb Love, playing hero ball (5-for-24 from the field, 1-for-8 from long distance) all night, missed another 3. Then Puff Johnson missed one with six seconds left, then Manek turned it over.

When the Jayhawks’ Dajuan Harris stepped out of bounds, Carolina had six seconds left in its season.

Manek on a baseline screen was the first option. He stumbled. Love launched an airball.

One dream realized, one dream shattered.

A proud Hubert Davis Jr. comforted his bawling players and said: “I love being the head coach at North Carolina and coaching these kids.”

They loved playing for him.

Hubert Davis Jr. has knocked down one obstacle after another on his way to Dean Smith’s North Carolina, to the Knicks, to a 12-year NBA career, to ESPN, to Roy Williams’ North Carolina on his way to becoming the first black coach at Michael Jordan’s alma mater.

No hurdle was greater for Hubert Davis Jr. than when he lost his mother Bobbie to oral cancer as a 16-year-old.

That singular victory over himself would make all the victories that would follow possible.

“He couldn’t understand why God would do something like that,” Hubert Davis Sr. told The Post on Monday afternoon. “He just didn’t understand it and was upset with God for doing that. He had a tough time accepting that.”

For a long time.

“I said, ‘Hubert, you need to go to church and talk to God about how you’re feeling, and ask Him for His help.’ He started going to church, became a Christian, and man, did you see the difference in him. His whole behavior changed. He was accepting it, and he could talk about it a lot more.

“I said, ‘Hubert, if you continue to think about your mother’s gone, as opposed to thinking about you had her for 16 years, then you will begin to not dwell on the negativity, but on the positive.’ And he started doing that. And it just helped him to live and to accept that he doesn’t have a mother now, and he could go forward.”

He never wondered how or why his driven son made it to his dream school. “We never talked about an NBA career,” Hubert Sr. said. “When Hubert was growing up, all the way through high school, all Hubert wanted to do was play basketball for Carolina.”

Hubert Sr. chuckled at the recollection of a call he would receive from Smith when Hubert Jr. made good on his vow to show he belonged in Chapel Hill. “Shows you what I know,” Smith said.

Hubert Jr. called his father to let him know that Williams would be stepping down. “I said, ‘Hubert, if he recommends you, and this is something that you want to do, you gotta accept it. Because if you don’t, you won’t forgive yourself for the rest of your life,’ ” Hubert Sr. said.

Hubert Sr. was at the Duke game on Saturday, but had to fly back to his Burke, Va., home on Monday because he could not get a flight back Tuesday. “We were right there,” Hubert Davis Sr. was saying at midnight.

Proud as Heel nevertheless.

“I concentrate on the fact that, yes, you are black, yes you are the first black coach in North Carolina history,” Hubert Sr. said. “But become one of the best coaches that North Carolina has had.

“You focus on that, and then everything else would take care of itself.”

For father and son, everything eventually did. They’ve overcome greater heartbreak than this.