Unless there is a hidden gem out there, it may be Miller time at UNC.
For me, the most stunning takeaway from Roy Williams’ farewell conference was his admission that he wants to be heavily involved in naming his successor. Of course, Roy would be consulted but we were never sure he had the strong feelings he expressed in Thursday’s presser.
He wants the best for the future of Carolina basketball, and that means having someone who will run the program like he has and as Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge did during that golden era. That almost guarantees the new coach is coming from the fabled UNC basketball family.
Is there an ex-Tar Heel player candidate who is not a head coach? Michigan seems to have hit the jackpot tapping former Fab Fiver and NBA assistant Juwan Howard, who hired veteran college coach Phil Martelli and led the Wolverines to the Big Ten regular season championship in his second year. Howard’s team plays a contemporary spread-the-floor offense and changing defenses. Is there such a Tar Heel out there?
Bubba Cunningham said he wants to move fast, and that means not only naming someone soon but landing a coach with very little learning curve. And he has to be someone who, if successful, will have the job for a long time. Even home-run NBA hires like Brad Stevens or Billy Donovan don’t check all of those boxes.
If Williams has a strong opinion, my guess is that it will come down to promoting Hubert Davis or hiring UNCG’s Wes Miller. Both are steeped in the Carolina Way and would hit the ground running.
Davis has been understated in his role as an assistant coach but has recruiting chops from his days in the NBA. Going to the league is the most important goal for most 5-star recruits, and Hubert knows what it takes to get there. He was the main reason UNC signed Cole Anthony, whose dad is a long-time friend and former NBA teammate of Davis. But does Hubert want the pressure and responsibility of the top job?
Former Tar Heel overachiever Wes Miller is this generation’s Roy Williams in many ways. Despite different childhoods and paths to Chapel Hill, he is also an unknown 38-year-old coach, as Roy was when Kansas hired him on Smith’s recommendation.
Miller decided long ago he wanted to coach and he’s been a winner from the start in Greensboro. Yes, he would need some help moving into Williams’ chair on the big stage, but retaining some of the staff – perhaps Davis – would smooth the transition and help him traverse the major college recruiting trail.
Miller is not the home-run hire, but he looks like the younger version of Ol’ Roy. Really, who could ask for anything more?
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