Sweet Sixteen: UNC Coach Audition Live Discussion

UNC’s coaching search at this time focuses heavily on coaches still coaching. While these coaches remain focused on winning at their current schools, UNC fans can watch some these games with extra interest as an audition of sorts. Who handles the pressure situations the best? Who comes up with the right adjustments at halftime? Whose team rises to the moment, and whose falters under the bright lights?

In order of appearance:

Ben McCollum took an Iowa team that finished 17-16 last season, with one of the B1G’s lowest payrolls, and immediately got the Hawkeyes rolling, opening 11-2 in nonconference play. Iowa went 10-10 against its B1G slate, and it reached the Sweet 16 by out-executing #1 seed Florida at the end of a back-and-forth game. Iowa faces Nebraska, a team its beaten twice this season, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Advertisement

Arizona and Arkansas tip in the late slot Thursday, with Tommy Lloyd hoping to reach the Elite Eight for the first time at expense of John Calipari, whose been there 11. Lloyd appears at or near the top of most UNC target lists for a number of reasons, but a prominent one, right below “wins a lot,” would be his insistence on offensive rebounding and a style of offense that in some ways resembles Roy Williams’. Bonus debate: some UNC fans hope Lloyd loses and inks with UNC soon thereafter, while others think he’s coming regardless and want him to go as far as possible. What say you?

Friday’s first window sees two candidates frequently mentioned as possibilities go head to head. Dusty May’s Michigan and Nate Oats’ Alabama tip at 7:35 p.m. May inherited the Michigan job from Wolverine and Fab Five alum Juwan Howard, who missed the NCAA tournament in 2023 and then was let go in 2024 with the team sitting at 8-24. May immediately turned things around, reaching the Sweet 16 last season and guiding Michigan to a #1 seed in this one with former UNC PG Elliot Cadeau.

Fun fact I did not realize until researching this piece: while a small…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/sweet-sixteen-unc-coach-audition-230000959.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-03-26 23:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.