The North Carolina job has been officially open for over 36 hours, and unsurprisingly, it has become one of the biggest stories in college basketball, even amidst Sweet 16 action beginning on Thursday. With many of the potential top candidates still in NCAA Tournament play and available to the media this week, they have already been asked directly, or indirectly, about the coaching vacancy in Chapel Hill.
The most notable person to speak was Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan, who hasn’t been a college coach since 2015. When Donovan was at Florida, he was one of the best coaches in the sport, leading the Gators to back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007. Even though he’s been out of the college game for over a decade, he is still considered a candidate for almost any big-time job that opens up.
“My main focus is on these guys and this new team,” Donovan said before the Bulls faced the 76ers on Wednesday. “I understand that there’s stuff out there, and I understand that there is going to be certain speculation. But, I have to concentrate on this group, and really, my focus is on what we’re doing here in Chicago and having a game tonight, and traveling to go and play in a back-to-back.”
UNC coaching candidates: Billy Donovan, T.J. Otzelberger among 11 betting favorites to replace Hubert Davis
Cameron Salerno
When the Kentucky job opened back n 2024, Donovan was considered a candidate to take over that blue blood program in Lexington. However, the timing didn’t work out. The Bulls were in the mix to be in the NBA Play-In Tournament and Kentucky couldn’t afford to sit around and wait for him to say yes or no.
What could help UNC land Donovan this time around, if he is indeed interested, is that the Bulls are close to being eliminated from this year’s play-in race. After losing 157-137 to Philadelphia, Chicago is now 29-43 and 9.0 games behind the Miami Heat for 10th place in the Eastern Conference, which is right on the cut-off of being the last team in the play-in, or going home early.
Would Donovan be successful in a completely different era of college basketball? Who knows. But it’s a gamble North Carolina could take. As of Wednesday, Donovan was the betting favorite (per SportsLine consensus) to be the next coach at UNC.
“Over the years, I’ve had a lot of college guys reach out to talk to me,” Donovan said. “It’s different in dealing with players who are being paid now. I also think the cycle of the NBA today is totally different than the cycle of college. I’m focused on what I have to do right now. Like anything else, things are always changing in the game of basketball.”
Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger says speculation is “not true”
Iowa State hasn’t been to the Elite Eight since 2000. The Cyclones will have a chance to break that drought on Friday when they face Tennessee in the Sweet 16. Ahead of one of the biggest games in program history, Otzelberger was quick to shut down the speculation about him landing at UNC, saying that he is “thrilled” about his future.
“Any speculation with me and any other jobs and opportunities is not true,” Otzelberger said. “I’m the coach of the Cyclones. Thrilled to be the coach of the Cyclones. As we move forward together, the alignment on our campus with (university president David) Cook, (athletic director) Jamie Pollard is amazing, and we’re thrilled and excited about our future together.”
Pollard, who has been at Iowa State for over two decades, posted on social media shortly after Otzelberger spoke to reporters. Pollard said that TJ is “not going anywhere.”
“Excited for Cyclone Nation that TJ is not going anywhere — he will be our basketball coach for a long time.” Pollard wrote.
Michigan’s AD speaks out
One of the fastest-rising coaches in the sport is Michigan’s Dusty May. In Year 5 at Florida Atlantic, he guided the program to its first Final Four appearance. In Year 1 at Michigan last season, the Wolverines went from an eight-win team to the Sweet 16.
Now, Michigan is in the national title hunt as a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. Ahead of the Wolverines’ matchup against No. 4 seed Alabama, Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel told CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein he wants May at Michigan for a “long time.”
“I want Dusty to be the coach at Michigan for a long time and continue to achieve great success,” Manuel said. “I will actively work with him towards making all that happen.”
Tommy Lloyd gives vague answer about opening
Lloyd is one of the best coaches in the country. It makes sense why UNC would be interested. Since arriving at Arizona after being an assistant at Gonzaga for two decades, he has helped the Wildcats reach the NCAA Tournament in his first five seasons at the helm of the program.
This year’s Arizona team might just be Lloyd’s best yet. The Wildcats have their best roster since the early 2000s and also have a ton of momentum on the high school recruiting trail. It’s hard to see Lloyd leaving, but North Carolina should do everything they can to make it happen.
Ahead of Arizona’s matchup against Arkansas, Lloyd was asked about his name being connected to the UNC opening. He gave a long and vague answer to reporters in response.
“I already have one of the best jobs in the country,” Lloyd said. “One thing we talk about in our program all the time, and I think I’ve gotten better at, and I think our team has been crushing it this year, is just the ability to have full focus and be present in the moment. I think we have a great team. I think we have a chance to advance in this tournament game by game. But I’m not delusional. I know we could lose tomorrow. But this team deserves my full focus, so there’s not one thing that is going to knock me off my path. I’m 100 percent focused on Arizona basketball and this program, and I can’t wait until the ball gets thrown up tomorrow, and then I can’t wait to try to figure out a way to come out on top.”
Alabama’s Nate Oats addresses rumors
Oats isn’t a stranger to being a potential candidate for an open job. Back in 2024, Oats was also in the mix for the Kentucky job in 2024, but he quickly shut down the rumors on social media and said he was committed to Alabama. Ahead of Alabama’s matchup against Michigan, Oats addressed the rumors and said he’s not the kind of guy to “always jump around.
“Yeah, it’s not the first time,” Oats said on Thursday. “Look, a lot of respect for other programs that may open and they’ve got great basketball tradition. … If you’ve gotten to know me, I’m not a guy that’s trying to always jump around. The grass is not always greener. I love Alabama. My girls love Alabama. Greg Byrne, best AD in the country. I love working with him. Would be great if I was able to work with him the rest of my career. They’re doing everything they can to make sure that we’ve got a competitive program, and as long as we’re able to compete to win championships here, SEC, national championships, we haven’t done that here yet, I’d love to be the coach to bring us our first national championship. To me, there’s absolutely no reason to leave here. While it’s flattering that a high school guy that caught a couple breaks would be mentioned with some of these jobs because they’ve got a lot of tradition, I’m not a guy that’s looking to get out of here anytime soon. I haven’t talked to anybody, nor do I plan on talking to anybody.”
One thing to note about Oats as the coaching carousel ramps up: His buyout at Alabama drops from $18 million to $10 million on April 1. The most successful coach in Alabama history has guided the program to the NCAA Tournament six times, including the program’s first Final Four appearance in 2024. An extension for Oats could be in play. The same could be said about many of the names on the UNC list, who will benefit from simply being mentioned in the search.
“No, I don’t have an offer in hand, but we’ve had some discussions, and it’s probably getting close,” Oats said. “We’ll see where it takes us … I’m not looking to leave. They don’t need to be in a huge rush to fix a really good contract that I’ve got right now.”
