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.
