The North Carolina job is different. And while that may be slightly overblown and not a good reason to disregard Todd Golden and Nate Oats in a coaching search, there is truth to it. The job has stayed in ‘the family’ since Frank McGuire, and this will be the first time that lineage is broken, so you can forgive Bubba Cunningham and the UNC brass for being a bit precious.
So far, all reports point to Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd as the top target, especially with Brad Stevens out of the running and Dusty May unlikely to leave Michigan. Lloyd is a lifelong West Coast coach, not a Carolina man, but watching his team, you can see how he’s exactly what UNC is looking for to replace Hubert Davis.
If, somehow, you haven’t watched him team just watch this play from Saturday night’s runaway Elite Eight win over Purdue.
Just check out the effort by Brayden Burries on this play. pic.twitter.com/d1gtdeMj7D
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 29, 2026
Tommy Lloyd’s teams play with a toughness UNC fans would love
That’s 5-star freshman Brayden Burries diving on the floor to get the loose ball and beating Purdue senior Fletcher Loyer to it. Burries had every reason to pull up. Arizona was comfortably ahead, and he’s a few games away from starting an NBA career. Loyer, on the other hand, was seeing his last shot at finally reaching the mountaintop with Purdue slip away, and yet it was Burries who was the first to the floor. That’s Tommy Lloyd basketball.
He’s led the program to great success over his five seasons in Tucson, but the former Gonzaga assistant had never broken through the Sweet 16 until this year. Still, every one of those teams embodied the toughness and physicality that Burries put on display late in the second half in San Jose on Saturday night.
Lloyd isn’t obsessed with bombing away from three. In fact, his Wildcats rank 363rd of 365 teams in three-point attempt rate this season. They attack relentlessly for 40 minutes, dominating the paint and pushing the pace. Lloyd recruits powerful athletes, who, like Burries, can win loose balls and oftentimes convert them into thunderous finishes. That’s an identity UNC fans could certainly get behind.
Lloyd isn’t the most proven candidate on UNC’s wishlist, but he’s up-and-coming, finally reaching the Final Four, and his teams play hard for him, which would instantly endear him to Chapel Hill.