One week ago, the No. 6 North Carolina Tar Heels were upset by the No. 11 VCU Rams in the first round of the men’s NCAA Tournament. UNC held a 19-point second-half lead, making the loss all the more bitter. The Tar Heels’ exit marked the first time in program history that UNC lost in the first round in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
Immediately, head coach Hubert Davis came under fire, with fans and pundits alike calling for his firing. On Tuesday night, the University of North Carolina fired Davis, so chatter about Davis’ job security has been replaced by speculation around Davis’ replacement.
Wednesday’s episode of First Take featured Stephen A. Smith half-heartedly proposing Florida’s Todd Golden and Alabama’s Nate Oats before giving a full-throated endorsement of Kenny Smith.
“Knowing North Carolina, they will look internally first,” Smith said. “They’re hiring internally. They ain’t looking at people outside.”
Smith conceded that UNC might look outside in the new NIL college basketball landscape, but said, “Don’t do it until you’re 100% sure that Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith is not available — that he is very, very happy at ESPN doing Inside the NBA with Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal and the great Ernie Johnson. Make sure that he has no desire whatsoever to be the next coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels.
But if he wants that job, this ain’t no Rooney Rule situation in the NFL. […] You don’t even think about interviewing another coach. You hire Kenny Smith.”
Field of 68 co-founder and longtime basketball analyst Jeff Goodman was not impressed, posting, “This guy is so clueless when it comes to this situation, and pretty much everything involving college basketball.”
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on SportsCenter that UNC will “look outside the North Carolina family, which is something new.” UNC’s past five coaches were Davis, Roy Williams, Matt Doherty, Bill Guthridge, and Dean Smith — all five had been assistants under the previous UNC head coach and/or played at UNC.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein echoed the report with one of his own, saying, “North Carolina will do an open search and plans, for the first time, to actively pursue candidates outside of the Tar Heels’ family. A new dawn in Chapel Hill.”
Kenny Smith was a star guard at UNC from 1983 to 1987 before two NBA championships with the Houston Rockets.
Goodman said on Wednesday’s “The Field of 68” podcast that Smith has “no shot — zero.” Goodman added, “One thing I know for sure: I don’t expect a decision soon. Carolina is not going to rush through this.”
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