North Carolina received disappointing news on Friday when Arizona’s head coach, Tommy Lloyd, chose to remain with the Wildcats after agreeing to a new five-year contract rather than accepting the Tar Heels head coaching position.
With Lloyd no longer in the picture for North Carolina, the Tar Heels still have a few solid options to consider. It seemed they and their boosters were pursuing Lloyd aggressively, but now they’ll need to explore a different route. Here are two legitimate options that could still be on the table.
Billy Donovan
As of Friday, the top coaching candidates favored by the public and sports betting markets are Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan and Michigan head coach Dusty May.
Donovan has been an NBA head coach since 2015, starting with the Oklahoma City Thunder before taking over the Chicago Bulls in 2020. Many young fans today may not realize that, before he coached in the NBA, Donovan was one of the top college basketball coaches. He spent 19 years coaching the Florida Gators, leading the team to back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007.
Thereâs a strong possibility that the Bulls or even Donovan will seek a change of scenery this offseason, which could make him available for the North Carolina head coaching job.
If Donovan is the right choice for the Tar Heels, there could be many challenges ahead, since he has never coached at the college level during the NIL and transfer portal era. The style of play has evolved somewhat, but he remains an excellent coach when it comes to the X’s and O’s.
Dusty May
May could be the top current college coach now on the North Carolina radar. May will lead Michigan in its Final Four matchup with Arizona on Saturday, but if the Wolverines don’t win it all, that could make it easier for him to leave Ann Arbor.
The biggest question for May would be whether he wants to leave the success he has built at Michigan over the last two years. Thereâs no doubt that coaching North Carolina is one of the best jobs in college basketball. Still, Michigan has enjoyed great success over the last two decades, reaching two national championships in 2013 and 2018 and now making the Final Four this season.
At the same time, May might want to go to basketball school, which is what North Carolina is all about. Even though Michigan excels at basketball, itâs primarily a football school.
Nobody knows what kind of funding Michigan has for basketball moving forward, and if the resources donât meet May’s standards, he could leave for North Carolina. There, he would have the opportunity to work with one of the top NIL departments in college basketball.
North Carolina may not have to wait long to find out who its next head coach will be, as the college basketball season wraps up on Monday and the NBA regular season comes to a close on April 12.
Although Donovan and May appeared to be the front-runners at the moment, thereâs always a chance that an unexpected candidate could emerge out of nowhere.
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