UNC Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham did not mince words when sharing his thoughts on the opening at head coach for the UNC men’s basketball program.
“Right now, I believe we’ve got the best job in college basketball,” said Cunningham Thursday night to open his press conference. “This job doesn’t become open very often and we need to spend a great deal of time thinking about who is the right person right now.”
Cunningham spoke to the media just hours after Roy Williams, the face of Carolina men’s basketball for 18 years, announced his retirement from the sport. With the NCAA Tournament finishing, the athletics director indicated the Tar Heels will jump into the search process for finding Williams’ successor.
Cunningham, who UNC hired in 2011, said there would not be a search committee for the process, with the decision ultimately being led by himself and Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz. But he said the pair would rely on many sources, contacts and members of the coined “Carolina Family” for insight during the process.
Williams is one of those people, according to Cunningham. The Hall of Fame coach alluded to sharing his opinion with Cunningham and Guskiewicz “a lot” during his retirement speech.
While the search will include contacting many former players and people within the Carolina Family, Cunningham said the search process will not require candidates to have ties to the UNC program.
“The often-used word is ‘fit,’ and I think that is part of it, [but] time and circumstance are part of that as well,” he said. “We’ve had it in the family for a long period of time and that is important. But it’s not the only factor in trying to make a decision like this.”
The close-knit culture of the basketball program is a staple of the foundation laid by Williams and his mentor, Dean Smith. The opening becomes one of the biggest available not just this offseason, but in recent years. Through its history, UNC men’s basketball has won six NCAA championships, owns the most all-time Final Four appearances and holds the most regular season Atlantic Coast Conference titles among other record achievements.
With the coronavirus pandemic still creating challenges across the country and the job’s high profile, the search process will be one of the most unique of Cunningham’s UNC tenure. He said he never would have considered doing interviews for such jobs virtually a year ago and his preference is still meeting candidates in person.
But while the athletics director said the methods have not yet been decided, the general timeline has.
“I want to go as quickly as I can,” Cunningham said. “We didn’t let much time elapse between Larry [Fedora] and Mack Brown [in the football head coaching search,] we won’t let much time elapse here. It’s very important, but more important is we get it right and we’re comfortable with the decision we make.”
“Quite frankly,” the athletic director added, “college basketball is better when Carolina Basketball is good. We need to be good and we’re committed to be good. We have to find the right leader to maintain the standards we’ve become accustomed to.”
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