It is on to a new era for North Carolina basketball. After just four seasons on the job as the Tar Heels program's head coach, Hubert Davis is gone in Chapel Hill, with the school deciding to fire him following yet another disappointingly early exit from the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed.
The final straw for North Carolina with Davis was the team's 82-78 first-round loss to the No. 11 seed VCU Rams.
Now, the Tar Heels begin their search for a new man to handle the job left by Davis, who put together a 125-54 record in 179 games coached with North Carolina.
Some notable personalities have already been floated to be the Tar Heels' next head coach, including Billy Donovan of the Chicago Bulls and TJ Otzelberger of the Iowa State Cyclones.
“As Chicago sports media speculates on Billy Donovan’s future with the Bulls, the former two-time NCAA national champion head coach makes plenty of sense for the Tar Heels if he wishes to return to the college game, Pete Nakos of On3 wrote.
Otzelberger, on the other hand, is called “one of the top up-and-coming coaches in the sport” by Nakos.
As a blue blood program, all eyes will be on North Carolina basketball's coaching search, and it could be someone who's not exactly with a Tar Heels background.
But two coaches likely not in consideration of UNC are Florida Gators' Todd Golden and Alabama Crimson Tide's Nate Oats, primarily because of their expensive buyouts, according to Brendan Marks of The Athletic.
Whoever lands the North Carolina basketball coaching gig will be assured of a prestigious job title but will also be under immediate pressure to deliver.
