9 potential candidates to replace Hubert Davis at North Carolina

Expectations are sky high at North Carolina and it’s not a surprise for a Blue Blood program. As a result of recent shortcomings, the Tar Heels have announced a major change in their basketball program by parting ways with Hubert Davis after five seasons as head coach.

Davis was a star guard for the Tar Heels under Dean Smith in the late 80’s and early 90’s and an eventual first round pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. He spent the next 12 seasons as a star shooter in the NBA before joining ESPN as an analyst soon after his retirement. After several years at that, he joined Roy Williams’ staff with the Tar Heels in 2012. Following nine years on that bench, including winning the 2017 national title, he succeeded Williams as head coach in 2021.

The five years that Davis spent as head coach have been a roller coaster and adventure in Chapel Hill. In year one he took the Tar Heels all the way to the national title game as an 8-seed, even leading by double-digits before falling to Kansas in that contest. North Carolina missed the NCAA Tournament the following season before winning the ACC title in his third season. Overall, the Tar Heels won at least 20 games in each of his five seasons but underwhelmed an underperformed at times, finishing just 4th in the ACC these last two years.

As we already said, expectations in North Carolina are very high and it’s the reason that North Carolina is thrust into their first big coaching search in several decades. The Tar Heels expect to be national contenders on a yearly basis and that just hasn’t been happening here in recent years. Navigating the current atmosphere in this sport is not easy with NIL and the transfer portal and North Carolina wants the next leader of this program to be well-equipped to handle all of these challenges.

Davis did not work as head coach though it wasn’t an era devoid of talent or success. However, it’s the start of a new direction in Chapel Hill and you can count on this administration not to leave any stone unturned. The next hire is likely breaking a long tradition and coming outside of the North Carolina family and we’re going to run through a list of potential candidates, some far more realistic than others.

Mark Byington

Byington is not part of the Carolina family but he checks a lot of boxes despite a lack of experience compared to some of these other names. A former guard at UNC Wilmington, he knows basketball in North Carolina, has been an ACC assistant, and has had success as a head coach. He did solid work at Georgia Southern, took James Madison to a Tourney upset, and has been simply brilliant in the SEC with Vanderbilt the last two seasons. He won’t be the first call but he would not be a disappointment if he’s the answer in Chapel Hill based on his recent track record.

Billy Donovan

One of the nation’s best basketball coaches, Donovan played at Providence and briefly in the NBA before grabbing attention for his work at Florida. A former Kentucky aide to Rick Pitino, Donovan won a pair of national titles with the Gators before jumping to the NBA. He’s spent the last 11 years split between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls. The big question mark is how he transitions back to the college game after more than a decade away but Donovan has excellent basketball acumen and would be an upgrade in many areas if he wants to leave the NBA.

Todd Golden

Still just 40 years old, Golden remains one of the rising names in coaching circles despite his recent success. He was very solid in his first head coaching gig at San Francisco and has really soared at Florida. Golden took the Gators to the national championship last season and has built successful rosters in Gainesville. He has no ties to the Carolinas or the ACC but he’s clearly a brilliant coach on the rise who could do fantastic things with the resources in Chapel Hill, though it would take quite the attractive offer to lure him away 12 months after winning a national title.

Tommy Lloyd

Another rising superstar in coaching circles, Lloyd spent the majority of his coaching career right next to Mark Few while they built Gonzaga into a machine. Responsible for international recruiting and a lot of great moments, Lloyd was paramount in significant success before finally becoming head coach at Arizona in 2021. His first five years on the job have been stellar with four Sweet Sixteen’s and championships in both the Pac-12 and Big 12. He’s a West Coast guy and looks very steady in Tucson, but the money and opportunity in Chapel Hill could lure him.

Dusty May

Humble beginnings for May included a stint as a student manager for Bob Knight at Indiana. He had several minor coaching roles, working his way up to his first head coaching gig at Florida Atlantic, and we all remember how that went. May took the Owls to the Final Four in 2023 thanks to a magical run and jumped to Michigan a year later. His Wolverines were a Sweet Sixteen team in his debut season and have been a national contender this entire season. In two weeks he might be a national champion and you have to wonder what it would take to get him to leave Ann Arbor just two seasons into this success.

Grant McCasland

The story with McCasland is that he’s another intriguing name on the rise thanks to his recent coaching success. The former Baylor point guard and assistant was a successful junior college head coach before achieving similar breakthroughs at Arkansas State and North Texas. He’s been at Texas Tech for the last three years and has an Elite Eight and a plethora of wins and memorable moments already. Much of his career has come in the state of Texas and it’s uncertain if he’d be high on the call list or even want to head to the coast, but either way he’s a name to watch in the years ahead no matter where he ends up.

Nate Oats

Brilliant teams and great success have defined Oats throughout his coaching career. A long-time high school coach, he got his big shot with Buffalo and won a pair of first round Tourney games with the Bulls before landing at Alabama in 2019. In Tuscaloosa, he’s turned the Crimson Tide program completely around, with SEC titles and now a fifth trip to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, just two years removed from the program’s first Final Four. Oats is a brilliant recruiter and a certified winner and just might be the right fit in many ways for the Tar Heels.

T. J. Otzelberger

Otzelberger has been incredible at Iowa State throughout his coaching career, and we’re not just talking about as the program’s leader. He assisted three different head coaches of the Cyclones through some great seasons before initial head coaching stops at South Dakota State and UNLV. Otzelberger returned in the top job in 2021 and has produced three Sweet Sixteens and continued success in an even harder Big 12 race. There’s a clear jump in funding, support, and opportunity from Iowa State to North Carolina and it’s all about if he’d want to leave Ames.

Brad Stevens

Sixteen years ago, Stevens took Horizon League stalwart Butler within inches from a national title in a thriller against Duke. He was brilliant in his time leading Butler, taking them to another title game the following year, before jumping to the Boston Celtics in 2013. Stevens is a massive stretch for the Tar Heels, especially since he’s been out of college ball and out of coaching, serving as the Celtics’ president since 2021. However, he’s a proven winner, a fantastic coach, and he would unquestionably bring energy and excitement back, though it’s hard to see him leaving an NBA executive job.