Heel Tough Blog: UNC Basketball Coaching Wishlist

Arizona Desert Storm

Hubert Davis was fired on Tuesday night, after 5 seasons on the UNC bench, where he compiled a 125-54 record, with an appearance in the 2022 Final Four, along with winning the 2024 ACC regular season title, and earning a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But after a historic collapse in the NCAA Tournament against Duke, there was nothing the former standout player under Dean Smith, and longtime assistant under Roy Williams before becoming head coach, could do to save his job. The firing of Davis means that the best job in college basketball, and one of the more coveted jobs in the basketball community, is open, and with no former Tar Heel player or longtime assistant ready, it signals a break from hiring from within the Carolina Family. 

Inside Carolina has already reported the biggest names linked to the Carolina vacancy, as Bubba Cunningham did confirm that the University will use a search firm in their efforts to find the coach to lead Carolina Basketball, beginning in 2026-27. After missing out on Brad Stevens and TJ Otzelberger, names like Tommy Lloyd,  Billy Donovan, Dusty May, among others, headline the search, as the belief is that UNC will be able to attract a big fish, something that isn’t always a guarantee in the NIL/transfer portal world. But who would headline the wishlist for our staff? Josh & Anthony tell you who they’d like to see potentially replace Hubert Davis on the UNC sidelines beginning next year: 

Josh: 

• Tommy Lloyd (Current Head Coach at Arizona)  

  • Tommy Lloyd is believed to be the top choice according to sources both close to the UNC program and from the national media, and rightfully so. Lloyd has been the head coach at Arizona and has already won 146 games, along with three regular-season and conference tournament titles, with multiple trips to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Now Lloyd has yet to break through and get to a Final Four, but that feels like only a matter of time, with how much winning he has enjoyed in his first five seasons as a head coach. Lloyd was a longtime assistant under Mark Few at Gonzaga, and given how close Few and former UNC head coach Roy Williams are, Lloyd could be the perfect hire, as UNC is set to hire a coach without direct ties to Chapel Hill for the first time since 1953, when they hired Frank McGuire away from St John’s. Lloyd has proven he can recruit the best talent from the high school ranks, as well as internationally, having established connections from his time at Gonzaga. While Arizona hasn’t relied on the transfer portal as much as other top programs, he was able to get the most out of Caleb Love after he transferred out of the UNC program, as well as Jaden Bradley, the former high-profile recruit, who started his career at Alabama. Considering Lloyd is just 51, he’d be poised to be in Chapel Hill for the next 15-20 years, making him the perfect ideal target for a program in need of stability. 

• Dusty May (Current Head Coach at Michigan)  

  • May has only coached at the power conference level for the past two seasons, but has emerged as one of the best coaches in all of college basketball, restoring Michigan to the elite in the Big 10 and nationally. While he’s yet to experience a deep NCAA Tournament run with the Wolverines, he did take FAU to the Final Four back in 2023, when the Owls were a 9-seed. This year, May led Michigan to the regular season Big 10 title, on their way to being a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, as they are set to play in the Sweet 16 on Friday night. May, a former student manager at Indiana, runs a free-flowing, high-scoring offense that is as efficient as any in the country. When you add in May’s ability to identify talent in the transfer portal and develop it, it makes him very intriguing, after concerns about player development under Hubert Davis. Like Lloyd, May is young enough to enjoy a long and lengthy career in Chapel Hill

• Billy Donovan (Current Head Coach of the Chicago Bulls)  

  • A trendy name emerging in the coaching search is Billy Donovan, the current head coach of the Chicago Bulls, who could be seeking an exit at the end of the season. Now, Donovan hasn’t coached in college in over a decade, but his track record speaks for itself, having won two national titles, gone to four Final Fours, and won over 500 games, between stops at Marshall and Florida. Rumor has it that when Donovan was still coaching in college, the only job he’d leave Florida for was North Carolina, and it’s the only job he’d leave the NBA for as well. Many college basketball analysts believe that if Donovan were to return to the college ranks, he’d immediately be the best coach in the sport, and if UNC thinks of itself as the best job in the country, it should have the best coach. One thing that could factor into his viability is his past with Roy Williams, as the two had a rift in their professional relationship while Williams was at Kansas. As of right now, all of the communication and interest is coming from Donovan’s camp, but a two-time national champion should catch the eye of Bubba Cunningham and Steve Newmark, and would be an easy sell to the UNC fan base. 

• Todd Golden (Current Head Coach at Florida)  

  • When the job first opened, this was my #1 choice for the opening. Golden is coming off leading Florida to back-to-back #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, after cutting down the nets last year in San Antonio. A Title XI investigation, which Golden was cleared of, may have the UNC brass hesitant, but make no mistake about it, Golden is already a top-tier coach in the sport, and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In his seven years as a head coach, Golden has posted a 160-77 record, having gone 57-36 in San Francisco and 103-41 at Florida. His $16 million dollar buyout might seem significant, but you don’t fire someone like Hubert Davis just to let money stand in the way of making a big-time hire. Golden’s style of play is very similar to the way UNC played under Roy Williams, but with a modern touch, with analytics having a larger role than they ever did previously. 

• Nate Oats (Current Head Coach at Alabama)  

  • After missing out on Brad Stevens and TJ Otzelberger, this is a name I’m starting to warm up to. You can’t deny the track record of Oates, who beat UNC in 2024, on the way to the Final Four. In his 11-year coaching career between Buffalo and Alabama, Oats has won four regular-season titles, along with five conference championships, with 9 trips to the NCAA Tournament, where he has posted a 15-8 record, with multiple trips to the second weekend, at a football school. Oats runs an NBA-style offense, prioritizing threes, layups, and foul shots, which would give Carolina a modern feel on and off the court. He has been able to attract top talent from the high school ranks, as well as the transfer portal, and developing talent hasn’t been an issue for a program that’s putting players in the NBA on a routine basis. Like Golden, he isn’t listed among the initial candidates, and even though he’s turned down big jobs like Kentucky in the past, the belief is that he’d be interested in Carolina, if they were interested in him. While he shouldn’t be as desired as others on this list, you can’t argue with the track record of success, which should make him a more serious option as this process moves ahead. 

Anthony: 

• Tommy Lloyd (Current Arizona Head Coach)

Career Record: 146-35 | Record at Current School: 146-35

Lloyd is the guy that I want the most, and for good reason. In five seasons as the head coach for the Wildcats, Lloyd has been one of the best regular-season coaches in the country, leading the team to three regular-season titles and having them ranked inside of the top 10 in each of his five seasons on the job. Lloyd has also gotten it done in the conference tournament, winning three titles in his five years, including this season in what might be the best conference in the country, the Big 12. Some people may have concerns that Lloyd has never made a run further than the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament, but he is still a young coach and could be heading towards that deep run this season. Add in the fact that this could be a hire that Roy Williams signs off on because of the fact that he is a Mark Few disciple, and this might just be the perfect hire for the program right now.

• Dusty May (Current Michigan Head Coach)

Career Record: 186-82 | Record at Current School: 60-13

May is another young coach who is high on my list. This is just May’s second season at Michigan, and he has already turned them into one of the top teams in the country following the disaster that was the Juwan Howard era. Last year had its ups and downs in the regular season, but when it came to the conference tournament, Michigan went on a run, winning the tournament that would help spark a run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. This year, he has registered a 33-3 record and has his team poised to make a run to the Final Four. If he were to get there, it would be his second appearance on the sport's biggest stage after he took Florida Atlantic there back in 2022-23. If Lloyd is not the hire, May would be a perfect consolation prize. 

• Mark Byington (Current Vanderbilt Head Coach)

Career Record: 260-155 | Record at Current School: 47-22

Byington is one of the hottest up-and-coming coaches in the country and is someone that the Tar Heels should consider if they get this far down on the list. While Georgia Southern may not have made the NCAA Tournament under him, he led them to one of the most successful stretches in program history before he left for James Madison, where he would turn the Dukes into one of the best mid-major teams in the country in his final season in 2023-24. Byington took on a tough job when he took over at Vandy, but he brought them to their first tournament in eight years last year and had them as a 5-seed in this year’s tournament after reaching the 25-win mark with the program for the first time since 2011-12. Byington isn’t on the level of Lloyd and May right now, but he has plenty of potential that would make him a very solid hire for the program.

• Billy Donovan (Current Chicago Bulls Head Coach)

Career Record: 502-206 | Record at Current School: N/A

Donovan is the candidate that has the best track record, considering he is a two-time national champion and a basketball hall of famer, but I have him a little further down on the list. I like the success that he has had at the college level, but there is a little concern about the fact that he has been out of the sport for eleven years. Even still, he is a tremendous X’s and O’s coach that would bring a level of excellence to the sideline in that area that it didn’t feel like the team had under Hubert Davis. Donovan’s titles might be 20 years in the rearview, but his success with the Gators extended until his final season, as the team made runs to the Elite 8 or further in four straight seasons from 2010-11 through 2013-14. It seems like there is some risk here with his time away from the sport and his age (60), but the Tar Heels could do a lot worse.

• Ben McCollum (Current Iowa Head Coach)

Career Record: 54-16 | Record at Current School: 23-12

McCollum is a guy who should only get consideration if the Tar Heels get this far down on the list, but he has some early success as a head coach that makes him worth looking at if things get to this point. After a really strong first season as a head coach last year at Drake, McCollum has taken the Iowa Hawkeyes to the Elite 8 for the first time since 1987. McCollum’s teams play a slower pace and are built for the defensive end of the floor, and one thing that you never have to question with them is their effort. It wouldn’t be the splash that some of the others on this list would be, but he is another coach on the rise who would be worth the hire if it got to this point.

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