As UNC continues to search for its next men’s basketball head coach, three names which have been floated as prime candidates for the job are Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, Michigan head coach Dusty May and Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan. All three men have had ringing success on the college stage, but there are drawbacks to UNC’s pursuit of each.
Tommy Lloyd — Arizona
Image via Associated Press/Ryan Sun
Pros:Â Lloyd is a proven winner. He’s had tremendous success in his five seasons with Arizona, as the Wildcats have won at least 24 games each year. Arizona has never been worse than a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament under his watch and has twice been a No. 1 seed, including this season. The Wildcats’ Elite Eight run in this year’s tournament marks the deepest postseason foray for the program under Lloyd. He was an assistant under head coach Mark Few at Gonzaga for 20 years, helping the Bulldogs reach two national title games. Lloyd is only 51 and, despite coming from outside the “Carolina Family,” does have connections to UNC. He coached former Tar Heel Caleb Love for two seasons, recruited and signed Henri Veesaar before Veesaar transferred to Carolina and hired former UNC assistant Steve Robinson to his staff.
Cons: Simply put, UNC would have to fork over a significant amount of money to lure Lloyd away from the winning tradition at Arizona. His contract currently runs through 2030, with a buyout totaling $11 million — though that number drops to $9 million April 1. Add that on top of the salary Carolina would be paying to Lloyd in the first place. Also, Lloyd has spent his entire life on the west coast: he was born in Washington state, played college basketball there and began working for Gonzaga (located in Spokane, WA) shortly after graduating. Uprooting his life to come across the country would be a momentous decision for Lloyd.
Dusty May — Michigan
Image via Associated Press/Jeffrey T. Barnes
Pros: May has shown the ability to win big at multiple schools. He rose to prominence as head coach at Florida Atlantic from 2018 through 2024, a tenure which saw him lead the Owls to a 35-4 season in 2022-23 and their first Final Four appearance in school history. FAU reached the NCAA Tournament again the following season, giving the program three all-time tournament appearances — two of which came in May’s six seasons. In two seasons with Michigan, May has resuscitated a program which won just 26 combined games across its previous two campaign. In his first year in charge, May exceeded that total with 27 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance. This year, Michigan has been a wrecking ball: a 33-3 overall record, a 19-1 mark in the Big Ten and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. At just 49 years of age, May has many years of coaching ahead of him. There is somewhat of a UNC connection, too: as a young man, May coached an AAU team in Bloomington, IN which featured future Carolina standout Sean May. Sean is currently still employed by UNC despite head coach Hubert Davis’ dismissal earlier this week.
Cons:Â With only two seasons under his belt at Michigan, it’s understandable if May would want to stay in Ann Arbor longer to truly establish roots. There’s also the fact that Michigan, with a powerful athletic department, a Jordan Brand partnership and a place in the wealthy Big Ten, has plenty of money at its disposal to dissuade May from leaving. And like Lloyd on the west coast, May has reason to stay in his geographic area. He was born and raised in the midwest, growing up in Indiana before playing for the Hoosiers and head coach Bob Knight from 1996 through 2000. That’s not to say he hasn’t ever ventured south: he worked at UAB, Louisiana Tech and Florida before taking the FAU job. But Michigan does not fancy itself as a stepping-stone job, and is prepared to ward off any of May’s potential suitors.
Billy Donovan — Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan reacts during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Pros:Â Of the three candidates featured in this list, Donovan’s collegiate coaching credentials rank as by far the best. He had a wildly successful run of nearly 20 years at Florida, helping the Gators win back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. Florida also finished as national runners-up in 2000, went to another Final Four in 2014 and reached the Elite Eight three additional times (seven times in total). Overall, Donovan won 467 games across his 19 seasons and compiled a .715 winning percentage. By any metric, he is the best coach in Gators history.
Cons:Â Donovan’s run at Florida was filled with great moments, but it ended in 2015. He has spent his last 11 years in the NBA, first as head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder and then of the Chicago Bulls. He led the Thunder to the Western Conference Finals in his first year in charge, but hasn’t been able to replicate that success since then. The Thunder lost in the first round in each of the next four years, and the Bulls have made the playoffs just once since he took over in 2020. At age 60, Donovan is also the oldest coach among those listed here. He also operates on a slightly later timeline from either May or Lloyd: the Bulls’ final game of the regular season is scheduled for April 12, six days after the national championship game and five days after the transfer portal opens.
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