Top 3 Favorites to Replace Hubert Davis at UNC After Tommy Lloyd Decision

Rick Pitino was rumored to be a favorite to be the next head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, and then he signed an upgraded deal with the St. John’s Red Storm.

Over the past week, Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd has been rumored to be one of the favorites to take over for Hubert Davis at UNC before the biggest game of his life on Saturday in the Final Four, and that discussion was put to rest on Friday.

Lloyd is staying with the Wildcats, and, like Pitino, is getting a massive upgrade in his contract to stay with his current team rather than take up one of the most desired jobs in all of college sports.

So, where does that leave the Tar Heels?

With two of the biggest fish taken off the board, there is still a long list of prominent names under discussion as successors to Roy Williams and Davis in North Carolina.

Per Kalshi, the prediction website, here are the current three favorites for the UNC head coach at the time of this writing.

More news: New Big Name Emerges in UNC Head Coach Search to Replace Hubert Davis

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Billy Donovan

With the Wildcats head coach no longer an option, the heavy favorite to become the new Tar Heels head coach is the current head coach of the Chicago Bulls in the NBA.

Donovan led the Florida Gators to back-to-back college championships two decades ago, and he might be ready to return to the college game to bring UNC back to prominence. Per Kalshi, his current odds of taking the job are 59%.

Grant McCasland

Behind Donovan is the Texas Tech Red Raiders coach McCasland, who has risen every day up the oddsmakers’ leaderboard for the UNC job.

A few days ago, McCasland was a long shot, and while he’s still only at 12% compared to the action on Donovan, he currently has the second-best odds on Kalshi to be the new Tar Heels leader.

Dusty May

The most interesting option, Lloyd’s opponent on Saturday, is third place on Kalshi to take the UNC job.

Arizona and Michigan are expected to be the biggest game of the season thus far, and half of the coaches in the game are now committed to the future of their program. While May is adamant about staying in Ann Arbor, Kalshi still has him at 8%.

If Michigan loses on Saturday, that number might skyrocket.

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This story was originally published April 3, 2026 at 4:07 PM.