Anytime a big-time job comes up in college sports, it gets head coaches across the country paid. Anybody who could be a candidate for the job is suddenly fielding offers from their own university for a long-term extension to stay put. Vanderbilt’s Mark Byington is the latest to benefit from this phenomenon.
Byington reportedly had a contract extension offer on his desk since Vanderbilt’s season ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a loss to Nebraska, but on Saturday, he finally signed on the dotted line.
While he wasn’t one of North Carolina’s top targets, Byington was rumored to be a potential candidate who is now off the board. Since the search began, Brad Stevens has turned down a return to the sidelines, TJ Otzelberger has stated his intention to stay at Iowa State, and Ben McCollum has shot down rumors that he’s been in the mix to leave Iowa for Chapel Hill.
NEW: Vanderbilt head basketball coach Mark Byington has signed a long-term extension, @JoeTipton confirms⚓️https://t.co/DRdmPRqKoD pic.twitter.com/LFfyRp7DKQ
Once they fired Hubert Davis, UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham, and the rest of the decision-making brass in Chapel Hill decided that they’re going big-game hunting. It started with giving Stevens a call, and has resulted in a candidate list loaded with recognizable names: Michigan’s Dusty May, Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, and two-time national champion Billy Donovan, who is currently with the Chicago Bulls.
Byington, however, with his ties to the state as a former player at UNC Wilmington and his brief but successful tenure at Vanderbilt, leading the Commodores to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, has popped up as a potential dark horse for the Tar Heels. He was the ideal backup plan, or safety net, as the program breaks away from a coaching lineage that runs back to Frank McGuire.
That safety net is becoming increasingly important, too. On Saturday, Jeff Goodman reported that Dusty May is unlikely to leave Michigan for the North Carolina job, and that leaves the Tar Heels with Tommy Lloyd and Billy Donovan at the top of their wishlist.
Lloyd may not be willing to leave Arizona, especially if the Wildcats can win the national championship, and Donovan has not coached in college basketball since 2015.
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