As the Final Four takes place and the college basketball season winds down, the North Carolina coaching search continues to take twists and turns. One of those turns came on Friday, when Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd extended his contract with the Wildcats, effectively taking him out of the UNC search.
Back to the drawing board it is for North Carolina’s search. Michigan’s Dusty May and Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan appear to be the two biggest names left on the board for North Carolina. But ESPN basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla believes UNC should look at Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington for the opening.
“I came up in coaching a huge @UNC_Basketball Dean Smith fan,” Fraschilla wrote on Twitter/X on Saturday morning. “To me, he’s the best coach in college basketball history for coaches to study. The coach who the closest to coaching like him is @VandyMBB Mark Byington. I don’t know him well & have no dog in the fight but, given the resources, I think he would win big. Saw him win a game once down 5 with 5 seconds to go, Dean Smith style.”
It’s easy to see why Byington could be an attractive name for schools looking for a head coach to fill an opening. A longtime mid-major coach, Byington got his shot at Vanderbilt ahead of the 2024-25 season. In just two seasons with the Commodores, Byington has a record of 47-22. The Commodores snapped a seven-year NCAA Tournament drought under Byington in 2025 and won their first tournament game since 2012 this past season.
But if UNC wants Byington, it will have to clear one major hurdle. That would be his new contract.
On March 28, Byington and the Commodores agreed to a long-term contract extension, On3’s Joe Tipton reported. Details of the extension are still yet to be released to the public, but Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman stated the contract’s buyout “isn’t all that different from what it was prior to the extension.”
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Until a new coach is found, Tar Heel nation will remain in limbo and on the edge of its seat waiting to see the next man for the job. But even North Carolina legend Tyler Hansbrough admitted on Saturday that perhaps the job is not all that it used to be.
“(Tommy) Lloyd is who a lot of the higher-ups and the boosters — that’s who they’re really pulling for,” Hansbrough said, via the Field of 68. “It’s difficult to make a transition from one program to the other. And also the fact that Arizona is still good and they’re at the Final Four, probably had a little bit to do with (it). It’s tough to leave after you have a successful season like that so far, especially if they win it, it’s even more difficult.
“But you’re right. Right now, there may be just a bigger gap, and Carolina might not be as heralded as we once thought.”
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