UNC will target former Celtics coach Brad Stevens to replace Hubert Davis

The University of North Carolina Tar Heels are expected to “swing big” with regards to the next head coach of their men’s basketball program.

Pete Thamel of ESPN reported on Tuesday, March 24 that UNC intends to look outside the program for someone to replace recently fired head coach Hubert Davis following the team’s first-round loss in the NCAA Tournament, adding that the school’s search will include some of the biggest names in both college basketball and the NBA.

Among those names is former Boston Celtics head coach and current president of basketball operations Brad Stevens.

“I can say with confidence that North Carolina is going to turn outside of the family. There, simply put, isn’t a candidate who could for sure deliver the level of results that Bubba Cunningham made clear there that North Carolina needs moving forward,” Thamel said. “Where they go will be the biggest question looming over all of basketball, forget about just college basketball, right now.”

“They are going to swing big, and I have been told by sources that they are going to go after Hall of Fame coaches, they are certainly going to go after coaches who are still coaching in this NCAA tournament,” Thamel continued. “I’d imagine they, like every other marquee job that’s opened in the last decade, will take a swing at Brad Stevens.”

Thamel added that North Carolina landing Stevens is unlikely, as he has chosen to remain with the Celtics in one capacity or another since joining the franchise as its head coach in 2013, even despite several job offers from prominent programs and organizations.

Stevens coached Butler University to back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances and back-to-back title game appearances in 2010 and 2011, finishing second both times as a No. 5 seed and No. 8 seed, respectively. He went 354-282 as Boston’s head coach between 2013-2021 and earning three trips to the Eastern Conference Finals.

He moved into the role of president of basketball operations for the 2021-22 season and has helped build two teams that won the Eastern Conference and earned a berth in the NBA Finals (2022, 2024). Stevens finally got his first ring following the 2023-24 season after Boston bested the Dallas Mavericks to win the championship.

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