Now that it is official, and Hubert Davis is no longer the head coach of the North Carolina Men’s Basketball team, it is time to move our attention to who should succeed him.
Real quick, I do want to take a minute and thank Hubert for what he means to the university. He has two of the biggest wins in one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports and there is nothing anyone can ever do to take those from him. Thank you for your service, Coach Davis — good luck on any future endeavors and may your Tar
Heel flag always fly high.
So, with that taken care of, who should replace Hubert Davis as head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels? Here are my top picks, but I would love to hear your picks in the comments section below.
All I Do is Win
Grant McCasland (Texas Tech) and Ben McCollum (Iowa)
At first glance neither of these guys may seem all that exciting, but if you delve deeper both would be great hires for UNC. McCasland has been to the NCAA three times in three years with the Red Raiders, including a trip to last year’s Elite Eight. He also has an NIT championship and a CBI championship from his time at North Texas, as well as a NCJAA championship from his time at Midland College. He also made two Division II Elite Eights in his two seasons at Midwestern State. He has 142 wins in five seasons as a Junior College coach and another 284 wins in 12 seasons as a DII and DI coach. McCasland would also bring the possibility of bringing top players JT Toppin and Christian Anderson with him. One of the main reasons that Texas Tech is not still playing may be because Toppin got injured, but McCasland kept his team together and went 3-3, including a huge win over a top 5 team in Iowa St and a 20-point first round win over Akron.
McCollum, whose Iowa team just beat reigning champ Florida, also brings a wealth of winning. After 15 seasons at DII Northwest Missouri State, where he won four DII titles in six seasons (one of those seasons was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic and his team was 31-1), McCollum has led two different programs to the NCAA tournament in back-to-back seasons in his first year coaching each. Last year, he led Drake into the tournament, and this year he is in the Sweet 16 in his first season with the Hawkeyes. McCollum has won at least 21 games in 15 straight seasons at three different programs. He has 449 wins across 17 seasons and three different programs, and his season is still not over yet.
You know who both of these guys remind me of? Curt Cignetti. All he did was win, too — and he just got done winning a national title at Indiana for football. The only detail that matters is that these guys know how to get the W and both have done it at two of the top conferences in the country.
Still Playing and Still Winning
TJ Otzelberger (Iowa State)
Otzelberger does not have the same overall championship pedigree as the above two guys, but his team is still in the tournament as he is in his third Sweet 16 in his five seasons at Iowa State — though that is as far as he has ever gotten in the tournament. He also made the tournament twice in three seasons at South Dakota State, where he won multiple regular season and tournament championships with the Jackrabbits. Unfortunately, Otzelberger does have a pretty bad stint at UNLV, going 29-30 in two seasons and failing to make the postseason in either. However, he has made up for that with his Cyclones’ strong play, and he does have a Big 12 Championship with Iowa State.
SEC to ACC?
Mark Byington (Vanderbilt) and Todd Golden (Florida)
Here are two SEC coaches who might be good fits at UNC. Byington, who played at UNCW, has helped rebuild a couple of colleges in James Madison and Vanderbilt. Byington has been to three straight tournaments starting with his final season with the Dukes — in which his team went 32-4 and made the second round as a 12 seed who beat Wisconsin — and then his first two seasons with the Commodores in which he has won 47 games and his team came up a rim shy of making the Sweet 16.
Golden seems like a homerun hire. However, a deeper dive into his post season history and he looks a little less impressive. Yes, he has the National Championship from last year, but outside of that 6-0 run, he is 1-3 in his three other trips to the tournament. He also has those sexual harassment allegations that may not be a welcome sight in Chapel Hill.
When was the last time you coached?
Jay Wright (Villanova) and Brad Stevens (Butler/Boston Celtics)
These next two guys have both been mentioned in relation to the North Carolina job and the biggest question with both of them is that neither has coached in a while. Wright, who is 64, is the more accomplished of the two having won two national championships [Editor’s note: I wish it was only one]. He is also the more fresh of the two having most recently coached a basketball team back in 2022. Stevens, who is 15 years Wright’s junior, hasn’t coached any basketball since 2021 and hasn’t coached a college basketball game since 2013. To put that in perspective: the last time Stevens coached the college game, Marcus Paige, who was an assistant coach on last season’s UNC team, was a freshman at UNC. Not saying either will or won’t necessarily be successful, but there are a lot of questions about two guys who haven’t coached in a while and who would both be entering a college basketball world they did not originally leave.
One Outside the Box candidate
Luke Murray (UConn assistant coach)
I know it isn’t going to happen, but Murray has been an assistant coach at some major programs including Xavier, Louisville, and for the past five seasons UConn. In his last three stops, Murray has been to five Sweet 16s, three Elite 8s, two Final Fours (and two titles). Also, there is the added bonus of a Space Jam reunion if his dad Bill happens to sit next to Michael Jordan.
I want to conclude with a quick hit on some other names I have seen mentioned. Tommy Lloyd, Dusty May, and Dan Hurley are not leaving their current jobs for UNC. Nate Oats is well liked at Alabama and UNC cannot afford a bidding war with the Crimson Tide. If Billy Donovan didn’t leave the NBA for Kentucky, he isn’t leaving the NBA for the Tar Heels. Eric Musselman? Seriously? I need a minute while I stop laughing.
So who do you think should be the next coach of the Tar Heels? Let us know in the comments below.
