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Was Billy Donovan In Chapel Hill? Unconfirmed Meetup With UNC Boosters Fuels Drama As Odds Shift

#North Carolina Tar Heels
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Speculation continues to surround North Carolina’s search for a new basketball coach as the offseason begins. An unconfirmed rumor of a secret meetup with a top candidate further fueled the drama.

Did Billy Donovan speak with UNC boosters over the weekend? The odds of a partnership with the Tar Heels have shifted drastically over the last few days.

North Carolina parted ways with Hubert Davis after Year 5. That tenure ended with an NCAA Tournament collapse which saw the team blow a 19-point lead vs. VCU.

Davis was unable to match production seen in his debut season. As a result, he was shown the door.

Is Billy Donovan headed to UNC?

The former Florida coach is at the top of hot boards, and for good reason. Donovan boasts both experience and a history of national championship success.

With the Gators, he appeared in four Final Fours while winning 72% of his games. He secured back-to-back titles in Gainesville before moving onto the NBA.

His time in the pros has been a bit less accomplished. While he did lead the Thunder to the Western Conference Finals in Year 1, he’s missed the postseason in five of the last six seasons with the Bulls.

This year has been his worst. Chicago is 29-46 with seven games left to play. There is a feeling that he’s being advised to move on.

North Carolina has been tabbed as a potential landing spot should he choose to return to the college ranks. Those close to the program believe it is a legitimate possibility.

“A really good friend of mine, who was really close to his representation, told me 10 years ago that the one job that Billy Donovan had always wanted in college basketball was North Carolina,” said a co-host on the Heel Report.

“He’s never changed his mind on that. He’s told me that since he’s been in the NBA… There are legs to this, for several reasons. This is legit.”

The odds appear to back that suggestion up. Prediction markets give him a 50-55% chance of landing the job at the time of this writing.

That’s a dramatic shift from the opening lines, which previously listed the favorites as being Todd Golden and Mark Byington.

Significant money is reportedly being placed on the potential outcome. A possible marriage between Billy Donovan and UNC is picking up steam.

Was the coach in Chapel Hill?

An unconfirmed rumor of a secret meetup with North Carolina boosters is now circulating social media. Did it happen? It seems unlikely.

For one, the account that posted the update is based in Bangladesh. Secondly, the restaurant mentioned is closed on Sundays, the day of the supposed conversation.

Could an exception have been made? Maybe. No major news outlet close to the program has supported the claim, however.

That does not diminish the chances of Donovan’s future arrival in Chapel Hill. He was asked about the job last week. He did not dismiss the opportunity, though it wasn’t an admission of interest either.

“My main focus is on these guys and this new team. I understand that there’s stuff out there, and I understand that there is going to be certain speculation…

“Over the years, I’ve had a lot of college guys reach out to talk to me… I’m focused on what I have to do right now.”

– Billy Donovan via The Athletic’s Tony Jones

If hired, he’d be forced to adapt to the current landscape of player payment and the transfer portal. North Carolina would certainly make it worth his while to take the job. They’d provide a lucrative salary and NIL budget.

For now, Donovan sits atop the leaderboard, though North Carolina has reportedly been in contact with Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, too.

Regardless of whether or not he was in Chapel Hill, momentum for Donovan’s hiring has picked up steam. The odds continue to favor a move. With the NBA season wrapping up soon, we should gain clarity on the search in the coming days.