Going on a deep March Madness run without their best player, Caleb Wilson, was a near-impossible task for the North Carolina Tar Heels. But even without Wilson, they at least had enough talent to win one game, right? The fact that they built a 19-point lead as the No. 6 seed against No. 11-seeded VCU in their opener on Thursday night says so. Yet, UNC turned out to be one and done anyway, getting sent home in humiliating fashion after allowing the Rams to come back and steal this game in overtime.
Not having Wilson obviously made the Heels' lives harder, but from the impossibly thin rotation Davis tried to deploy to changing his team's style of play when trying to protect a lead to several mental mistakes in pressure moments, Davis' fingerprints were all over this collapse, and this isn't even the first time the head man has fallen short in a big game. Change is a necessity for UNC to get back to national championship contention, and fortunately, letting Davis go wouldn't completely break the bank.
What is Hubert Davis' buyout? UNC has no excuses
The lone deterrent that'd give UNC cause to pause when it comes to firing Davis would be his buyout. While he's under contract through 2030, his buyout is a relatively modest $5.3 million if he were fired on April 1. That's not nothing, but it also shouldn't be enough to keep Davis around.
UNC prides itself on being a basketball program that's consistently competing for Final Fours and championships. If they choose to let Davis, a head coach who hasn't gotten out of the first round since the 2023-24 season and hasn't gotten to a Final Four game since his first season in 2021-22, rather than pay a modest buyout and find a head coach who can put this team over the top, how can anyone say they're serious about winning?
The longer they stick with Davis and accept mediocrity, the harder it'll be for UNC to get to where they expect to be as a program. These head coaches, though, could get the Heels back to true contention.
Hubert Davis replacements that could get UNC back to National Title contention
Mark Few
Mark Few's resume needs no introduction. What he's done with the Gonzaga Bulldogs, turning them from a relative afterthought to an absolute powerhouse, has been nothing but extraordinary. Now, he's never led Gonzaga to a national championship, but they're in the tournament every year and almost always get to the second weekend at least.
What makes the Few fit more interesting is that he is a close friend of Roy Williams, which could be convincing enough for the boosters to pursue him. Whether Few would leave Gonzaga remains to be seen, but a large paycheck and the ability to get a fresh start coaching at a historic program like UNC could be enticing enough.
Scott Drew
Scott Drew led the Baylor Bears to a title in 2020-21, buthe hasn't made it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament since and failed to even make the tournament this season after an underwhelming 16-16 regular season. Drew might not be blame-free, but his roster isn't nearly as talented nowadays.
His odds of competing with Baylor, particularly with NIL where it is, are rather slim. With a blueblood like UNC, though, Drew can build a powerhouse, which is good for him and for the program.
Nate Oats
The University of Alabama is known as a football powerhouse, but Nate Oats has helped make the basketball program relevant. The Crimson Tide have made six straight March Madness appearances and have made it to the second weekend of the tournament in all but one of those years as of this writing.
If Oats can do this in a program where basketball plays second fiddle, what can the 51-year-old do with more money at UNC? He's built teams that were in the title mix in Alabama, and his ceiling would be even higher in Chapel Hill. This fit makes sense for both sides.
Brad Frederick
UNC has a history of prioritizing familiarity, so it'd only make sense for them to strongly consider Brad Frederick as Davis' replacement. Frederick has been an assistant at UNC, the same school in which he played for three years, for over a decade. He's learned a lot under Davis and Williams.
It's always risky hiring a first-time head coach, but again, the familiarity is there. Frederick has enough experience to make it seem as if he'd be a fine head coach, and who knows, perhaps the 49-year-old could be a diamond in the rough.
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