Sit back and prepare to have your minds blown! When it comes to the head-coaching search for the North Carolina Tar Heels, all signs point to them hiring one of two men to be their next head coach. Hubert Davis' successor will either be Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd or Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan. Arizona is playing in the Final Four, while Chicago is still playing, we guess...
So as far as when a timeline is concerned over when UNC will make its next hire, the Tennessee Volunteers may have inadvertently set a date. Because the Vols are incapable of getting to the Final Four under Rick Barnes, or really anybody for that matter, a budding curse has emerged following this team. Whoever beats Tennessee in the Elite Eight has gone on to play for a national title, but lose in it.
So what does this mean for North Carolina? A little more than you think... Because Michigan beat Tennessee this year, like Houston did last year, and Purdue the year prior, the Wolverines are fated to get to the national title bout, only to lose to either the Illinois Fighting Illini or the UConn Huskies. Since Arizona plays Michigan in the national semifinals, that may be the end of the line for Lloyd there.
Should the Tennessee Elite Eight curse hold true for a third year in a row, Lloyd may come on Sunday...
North Carolina will await Arizona's season ending to land Tommy Lloyd
So even if you do not believe in curses or merely coincidences, Lloyd will have to make a decision on whether he stays in Tucson or leaves for Chapel Hill in a little less than a week. It may not come until after the national championship, but if Michigan is destined to win its national semifinal over U of A, then Lloyd may have to make his decision sooner. It is one that Fran Fraschilla does not believe in...
Should we end up living in a world where either Illinois or UConn prove victorious over Michigan in the national championship, expect for Lloyd to have this North Carolina debate sorted out in his mind at some point on Easter Sunday. He is risen! Better yet, Lloyd has chosen! If he does leave Arizona, that will be such a brutal loss for the Wildcats. They are every bit a new blood in the land of college hoops.
Unfortunately for everybody else involved in the North Carolina head-coaching search, the NBA regular season does not end until a week later on Sunday, April 12. With the Bulls having already been eliminated from the Eastern Conference Playoffs, there is a chance that Donovan may just resign and take over in Chapel Hill, in the event that Lloyd does not take the job. The clock is ticking for UNC now.
At this time, UNC fans should hope for this prophecy to come true so that Lloyd could head their way.