Written by DAVID GLENN
In the aftermath of either Michigan or UConn capturing the national championship on Monday night in Indianapolis, the biggest headlines in college basketball this week will be related to UNC’s ongoing coaching search.
The good news for Carolina fans is that, regardless of the identity of the Tar Heels’ next head coach, he will inherit a relatively strong foundation in a wide variety of ways, even if you ignore the program’s stunning success in the latter half of the 20th century.
For example, when critics suggest that Carolina’s brand has faded, the appropriate counterpoints include the fact that only four programs have claimed at least three NCAA titles since the turn of the century — UConn with five, then UNC, Florida and Duke with three titles each.
Similarly, if you narrow the timetable to just the past 10 years, only seven schools have won the Big Dance in that span, and UNC is on that relatively short list, too, along with UConn, Baylor, Florida, Kansas, Villanova and Virginia. If Michigan wins on Monday night, that exclusive neighborhood will grow to just eight members.
Meanwhile, although it’s true that UNC is no longer the #1 producer of talent for the National Basketball Association, as it was decades ago, it’s also true that the Tar Heels still rank in the top 10 in that regard, with more than a dozen former players competing in the NBA during that league’s ongoing regular season, which ends Sunday. Along with the program’s ongoing connection with Michael Jordan, one of the most iconic figures in basketball history, that fact remains impactful in the eyes of many recruits and their families.
Another very important factor in UNC’s favor is that the school already has displayed its willingness to continue to spend big on men’s basketball. When the NCAA allowed its member schools to pay athletes directly for the first time during the 2025-26 academic year, in the form of revenue-sharing connected to the recent House settlement, the Tar Heels immediately dedicated $7 million of that new $20-plus million budget to men’s basketball. When you add in external Name-Image-Likeness money, the Heels had a roughly $16 million roster overall this past season.
Although there is no single public database that tracks all of these budget-related numbers, the general consensus is that Carolina’s total investment in the sport still ranks among the top 10 nationally.
One question every coach asks himself when considering a new job is “Can I win there?” When Atlantic Coast Conference jobs opened this year at Boston College, Georgia Tech, NC State and Syracuse, many candidates weren’t sure of the answer at those schools.
In contrast, thanks to the much stronger foundation at Carolina, coaches don’t need to be talked into the idea that they can win there.
David Glenn is filling in for Art Chansky today, as Art is temporarily out on a medical leave recovering from an accident.
Featured image via Todd Melet
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