Matt Johnson
A North Carolina Tar Heels coaching search is underway after the program finally decided to move on from Hubert Davis earlier in the week. While it’s still early in the process, there does seem to be one name who checks off all the boxes that the program wants in its next men’s basketball coach.
Sherrell McMillan of On3.com’s Inside Carolina wrote that both North Carolina officials and those outside the program believe that Arizona Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd “checks all of the boxes” that are being prioritized in the Tar Heels coaching search.
Related: North Carolina Tar Heels Coaching Candidates
Lloyd, 51, is in his fifth year as the Wildcats’ coach. The program went 33-4 in his first season and has made the NCAA Tournament every year. Arizona is now coming off a 109-88 victory over Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen, reaching the Elite Eight for the first time under Lloyd.
Formerly an assistant at Gonzaga under Mark Few, Lloyd has proven himself to be very comfortable with the tasks that come with being a college coach in the modern era. He’s proven more than comfortable recruiting talent both at the high school and international level and he embraces the transfer portal. Furthermore, he’s willing to embrace the role of pushing boosters for more NIL funding and doing what it takes to bring the best talent to a program, which was one of Davis’ shortcomings.
Bringing one of the best coaches in men’s college basketball won’t come cheap. There’s an $11 million buyout attached to poaching Lloyd from Arizona, but McMillan reports that North Carolina is willing to pay that. It’s also worth noting that if the Wildcats make a further push into the NCAA Tournament, potentially reaching the Final Four, that could align with the date when Lloyd’s buyout drops to $9 million on April 1.
It’s far from a foregone conclusion that Lloyd will be the next Tar Heels basketball coach, as he could just use the program as leverage to negotiate a new contract extension with Arizona that could pay him more than $6 million per year. At the very least, it shows what North Carolina is prioritizing and that the athletic department and boosters are ready to make a true financial commitment to get the program back on track.
