UNC Coaching Search: SEC names lead odds

By Chris Marler

On Tuesday night, North Carolina fired their head basketball coach Hubert Davis. 

Davis had underwhelmed at the position for several years now, and was fresh off blowing a 19 point lead in Round One of the NCAA Tournament to VCU. ACC basketball coaching vacancies are never really a priority for a Louisiana based sports site, or me covering the SEC. That could change today however, if the Will Wade rumors are true, but I digress. 

While the job itself isn’t necessarily on brand for anything involving the SEC, the replacement for Davis could absolutely impact the league. Per Draft Kings, three of the top four odds to replace Davis come from the SEC. Here’s a look at the full odds.

Odds to be the next head coach at UNC

Todd Golden (Florida) +300 

Mark Byington (Vanderbilt) +400

TJ Otzelberger (Iowa State) +500

Nate Oats (Alabama) +600

Dusty May (Michigan) +700

Billy Donovan (Chicago Bulls) +800

Sean May (UNC) +1000

Grant McCasland (Texas Tech) +1100

Tommy Lloyd (Arizona) +1200

Scott Drew (Baylor) +1400

Rick Pitino (St. John’s) +1500

Jerry Stackhouse (Golden State Warriors) +1600

Jay Wright (N/A) +1800

What to Know 

If the Tar Heels are going to go after anyone from the SEC, it won’t be cheap. Todd Golden signed a six-year $40.5 million contract extension last year after winning the NCAA Championship. His buyout is currently at $16 million, but that will decrease to $11 million after April 15 this year. The Nate Oats to UNC smoke has happened before. He was one of the premiere names on their last hot board before they hired Hubert Davis. His contract is similar to Golden’s where the current buyout is set at $18 million, but will reduce significantly to $10 million after April 1. For those reasons Byington is a name to watch that will most likely cost much less.