Once North Carolina fired Hubert Davis after five seasons, Billy Donovan immediately rose to the top of the list of favorites to become the next head coach of the storied program.
Donovan, a former coach of the Florida Gators, is a two-time National Champion. However, he eventually departed the college basketball scene in favor of coaching in the NBA, where he has been head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls.
The latter team is in his current spot, and they’ve been going nowhere throughout his tenure. Their last playoff appearance occurred in 2021-22 as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, but they were promptly eliminated 4-1 in the first round by the Milwaukee Bucks.
This season, they are 29-46, which is 12th in the conference, and outside of a play-in spot. That’s definitely not an ideal situation for a coach who rose to prominence in the NCAA, and many feel that taking over at UNC could be the smart move to further his legacy as a coach.
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However, Donovan may have a strong reason not to take the job coaching the Tar Heels. Doug Gottlieb, coach of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, recently offered his perspective on the job while speaking with Colin Cowherd.
“It’s North Carolina, why not? The only reason he might not do it is because Kentucky might come open next year, and that’s the one he wants,” Gottlieb told Cowherd.
“The timing of it has always been a little bit off. He’d have to resign in a week, so he’s there for the portal, but I can’t speak to him. I don’t know what he wants in his life, but generally, what I was told was, his wife didn’t want to do a college town anymore. He didn’t want to mess with the academics, all that stuff,” Gottlieb shared.
He mentioned college coaching can be “quasi-professional basketball with a lot of amateur hour, but it’s North Carolina” for this particular vacancy being discussed. However, Gottlieb strongly said it all depends on what Donovan’s motivations are in his life or coaching career.
“Would I do it? Yeah. Is he gonna do it? I don’t know, Colin, everybody has different motivations,” he said.
Carolina has a rich tradition of superstar players and championship-winning coaches, including the great Dean Smith and Roy Williams, who achieved a combined five championships during their lengthy tenures with UNC. Donovan could attempt to add more and attach his name to the school’s legacy.
However, Gottlieb also brought up how many individuals who leave college coaching to become NBA coaches don’t want to return to the college scene, because the NBA focuses more on basketball and less on all the other drama and noise. The exceptions are dealing with agents or player egos, but otherwise, many feel it outdoes coaching at the collegiate level.
In addition to Donovan, other names have entered the discussion for speculation on the next Tar Heels coach, including Iowa State’s TJ Otzelberger and Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd. The latter of these coaches is currently involved in coaching his team in the NCAA Tournament, as they’ll face Michigan on Saturday in the Final Four.
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