Three sleeper candidates in North Carolina’s coaching search

North Carolina remains deep in its coaching search, and school officials hope to have a hire in place before April 7, when the transfer portal opens.

Two reported top candidates, Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd and Michigan’s Dusty May, have both led their teams to the Final Four, slowing the process. If either wins the national title, the odds of UNC landing him drop even further. Lloyd, the preferred candidate, could also simply choose to stay at Arizona.

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There is also a slim possibility that Billy Donovan, viewed as a fallback option, loses interest in the job. If that happens, where does UNC turn next?

Here are some names to watch if two of those three candidates come off the board.

Mark Byington (Vanderbilt)

Mar 18, 2026; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Mark Byington gives an interview prior to a practice session ahead of the first round of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images

Mark Byington is a basketball lifer who has exceeded expectations at every stop. Georgia Southern had been a perennial bottom-feeder in the Southern Conference until Byington arrived and led the Eagles to their best season of the KenPom era, which dates to 1997. He used that run to vault to James Madison, where he took the Dukes into the Top 25 for the first time in school history and into the Round of 32 in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

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A similar arc is now playing out at Vanderbilt, just in a different ZIP code. Byington has lifted the Commodores from the SEC basement into one of the league’s top teams.

Byington is, at his core, a program builder. He maximizes each roster and has beaten his preseason KenPom projection in nine of his 13 seasons as a head coach. His offenses are consistently high-level, and he has proven to be a sharp evaluator in the portal and what amounts to college free agency.

In an era when talent evaluation is everything, Byington stands out as one of the best. His familiarity with…

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Publish date : 2026-03-31 21:06:00

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