Legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski appeared on "The Pat McAfee Show" this Friday to preview the remaining Sweet 16 games. Eventually, their conversation shifted towards North Carolina firing Hubert Davis.
Even though Davis had a 125-54 record and led North Carolina to a national championship game during his five-year run, he was shown the door a few days after suffering an opening-round loss to VCU. There's no question the highlight of his time at UNC was beating Duke in the Final Four, which just so happened to be the last game of Coach K's career.
Despite having his career end at the hands of Davis' squad, Coach K is a bit disappointed that North Carolina made a coaching change this March.
"I’m sad that that happened. Every coach in the country has sympathy for him. When you lose a player the caliber of Caleb Wilson… he’s a top-five player in the NBA Draft. When you don’t have him the last few weeks of the season, that’s a big thing. That’s a huge thing," Krzyzewski said, via On3.
"Look, they can do whatever they want to do. But, I just have a lot of empathy for Hubert and a lot of respect for him. It’s one of the great programs of all time in any sport, and so I’m sure they will get a coach that is worthy of that position. It’s one of the big time positions in sport."
© Stephen Lew-Imagn Images.
Who'll replace Hubert Davis?
Although the search for a new leader hasn't kicked into another gear yet, Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan has emerged as an option for the Tar Heels.
“Billy Donovan is expected to be at or near the top of the list. The Chicago Bulls head coach hasn’t coached at the college level since 2015, spending the past 11 years with the Oklahoma City Thunder (2015-20) and Bulls (since 2020),” ESPN's Jeff Borzello wrote. “He has rejected opportunities to return to college before, but he could be more open to the idea now that the Bulls are going to miss the playoffs.”
Alabama’s Nate Oats, Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, Florida’s Todd Golden and Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger have also been mentioned as candidates for North Carolina.
It'll be fascinating to see who lands one of the top jobs in college basketball.
