UNC Basketball: UNCW fires former Tar Heels assistant C.B. McGrath

UNC-Wilmington fires head coach, former UNC basketball assistant C.B. McGrath in wake of last-place season

UNC-Wilmington fired head coach C.B. McGrath on Monday night according to a press release from Director of Athletics Jimmy Bass. The decision to let McGrath go came amid a last-place season that has the Seahawks at 5-14 overall, and 0-6 in Colonial Athletic Association play.

"“We appreciate C.B.’s hard work with our program and student-athletes over the last two and half years, and wish him well in the future,” Bass said in the press release."

McGrath and the Seahawks compiled a record of 26-58 in his two-plus seasons with the program. They were 11-21 in his first season, and 10-23 in his second season. They finished sixth in the conference in 2018 with a 7-11 record, but dropped to tenth-place the following season with a 5-13 mark. The team is currently in the midst of an 11-game losing streak that dates back to November 29.

McGrath was a longtime assistant coach to Roy Williams at the University of North Carolina. He spent 14 years under the Hall-of-Fame head coach, winning three national titles as a member of the Tar Heels. Prior to his time in Chapel Hill, McGrath played for Williams at the University of Kansas where he was a team captain in the late-1990s. He went on the spend four years as an administrative assistant at Kansas before following Williams to North Carolina in 2003.

McGrath’s Seahawks lost to Williams’ Tar Heels in the second game of the season, as North Carolina topped UNC-Wilmington 78-62 at Trask Coliseum. The Seahawks won four games over the next three weeks, and had a record of 5-3 in late November. Since then, seven of their 11 losses have come by double-digit points, and they’re alone at the bottom of the CAA standings.

Upon McGrath’s firing from UNCW on Monday night, North Carolina fans immediately began to speculate about the possibility of a return to the Tar Heels. North Carolina, however, doesn’t currently have an assistant coach position available, so he’d have to work in some other capacity if he did decide to return to Chapel Hill.

Check back with Keeping It Heel for any updates on C.B. McGrath, and everything UNC basketball.