UNC Basketball: 12 candidates to succeed Roy Williams as head coach

Billy Donovan

Since we’re going to look at some candidates without connections to North Carolina, why not start with one of the bigger names in recent head coaching searches? While Donovan has been an attractive name for elite and Blue Blood openings in recent years, it is an immediate question on if he’d leave the NBA to return to the college game.

Donovan played his college ball at Providence and was briefly in the NBA before becoming a coach. He served as an assistant at Kentucky under Rick Pitino, his college head coach, before getting his shot as head coach at Marshall. Florida hired him in 1996 and he rewarded their trust, leading the Gators to their first two national championships and four total Final Fours. Donovan has spent the last six years in the NBA, spending five years leading the Oklahoma City Thunder before the Chicago Bulls hired him last year.

Luring him away from the glamor of the NBA is a difficult task, but a job like North Carolina doesn’t open up every day. Donovan showed at Florida that he has the capability to run a big-time program, to bring elite talent to the school, and to put them in a phenomenal position for national glory. All things considered, Donovan would be a home run hire for the Tar Heels. The question remains if he’s willing to return to the college game and if the Carolina brass would even consider an outsider like him for the job.