Even though North Carolina was already eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, the prestigious program is dominating all the headlines before the Sweet 16 begins.
On Tuesday night, North Carolina fired men's basketball coach Hubert Davis. He had a 125-54 record during his five seasons in Chapel Hill. Despite leading the team to the national championship game in his first season, he was unable to build off that achievement. It became inevitable that he was going to be fired after his team blew a 19-point lead to VCU last Thursday.
"This opportunity has truly been such a blessing," Davis said in the statement. "I thank Jesus literally every day for giving me the opportunity, relationships and experiences with the kids and my staff. I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish together. My goal is to coach again in the very near future."
During this Wednesday morning's episode of "First Take," ESPN's Stephen A. Smith suggested North Carolina should hire former NBA star Kenny Smith as its next head coach.
"Knowing North Carolina, they're looking internally first. ... I believe that Kenny 'The Jet' Smith is that dude," Smith said. "You don't even think about hiring another coach, you hire Kenny Smith. I believe he can recruit."
Before becoming a two-time NBA champion with the Houston Rockets, Smith was an All-ACC player for the Tar Heels. He even had his No. 30 honored by the university.
Smith's colleague, Chris Russo, made it clear that he didn't love this suggestion at all.
"They just had Hubert Davis, who was an assistant for Roy Williams for nine years," Russo argued. "They're not bringing Kenny Smith in, who's 61 years of age, who's never coached a game in college basketball."
Most college basketball fans agree with Russo that North Carolina needs a proven winner at head coach.
"Yeah, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that UNC basketball is not going to hire a 60 yr old tv personality without ANY HC experience to run its program in 2026," one fan wrote on social media.
"Enough with this nonsense," a second fan declared. "That would be a disaster."
Who'll become the next head coach of the Tar Heels?
CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein reported Tuesday that North Carolina will "actively pursue candidates outside of the Tar Heels' family."
Who are those outside candidates? Well, Florida's Todd Golden and Iowa State's T.J. Otzelberger have been mentioned as the top options for North Carolina.
Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, meanwhile, has already removed his name from consideration.
