This former North Carolina Tar Heels star offered a rather big endorsement for one of the team's top coaching targets.
The North Carolina Tar Heels are looking for a new head coach after firing Hubert Davis, but with two of the top candidates for the job — Arizona's Tommy Lloyd and Michigan's Dusty May — preparing for the Final Four, North Carolina will obviously have to delay its search.
But there is another potential target who could end up in Chapel Hill: Billy Donovan.
Currently the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Donovan has been tabbed as one of the top names for the North Carolina job, and he definitely has the NCAA resume to validate it.
Donovan has 21 years of head-coaching experience in the collegiate level, with 19 of them coming with the Florida Gators. He won back-to-back championships at Florida in 2006 and 2007, making four Final Four appearances throughout his tenure.
Overall, Donovan owns a lifetime 502-206 record, so yeah: he is definitely qualified for the Tar Heels job.
Charlotte Hornets guard — and former UNC star — Coby White would agree.
White spent five-and-a-half seasons playing for Donovan in Chicago, and following the Bulls' decision to trade him to the Hornets last month, the Goldsboro, N.C. native had nothing but good things to say about Donovan.
Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan with Coby White. Credit: Nell Redmond-Imagn Images.“He was a huge part,” White said. “He always tries to say I worked and I worked, but I always give him a lot of credit for how far I came."
White also lauded Donovan's toughness.
“He’s from New York; he’s battle-tested,” White said. “That’s his way of kind of seeing how tough you are. Can you respond?”
The 25-year-old added that he cherishes his relationship with Donovan.
"We built a relationship as player-coach, but he's been a guy that supported me off the court, as well," White said. "We built a great relationship off the court. That's a relationship that will last forever."
So it seems pretty safe to say that White would definitely be happy if his alma mater hired Donovan as its next head coach.
White spent one season at UNC in 2018-19, averaging 16.1 points, 4.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds over 28.5 minutes per game on 42.3/35.3/80.0 shooting splits. He was selected by Chicago with the seventh overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft.
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