{"id":679261,"date":"2026-03-26T01:11:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/679261\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T01:11:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:11:26","slug":"billy-donovan-doesnt-deny-interest-in-unc-coaching-job-but-says-his-focus-is-on-bulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/679261\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Donovan doesn\u2019t deny interest in UNC coaching job but says his focus is on Bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Head<\/p>\n

Billy Donovan didn’t deny interest in the UNC job that opened Tuesday night. He left the University of Florida in 2015. Christian Petersen \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

March 25, 2026 8:00 pm EDT<\/p>\n

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Billy Donovan didn\u2019t deny interest in the UNC job that opened Tuesday night<\/a>, when the university parted ways with Hubert Davis. Donovan didn\u2019t come close to doing that.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Bulls head coach said the correct things on Wednesday evening when asked about his potential interest in being the next University of North Carolina head coach. He stated that he is the head coach in Chicago and discussed focusing on the Bulls\u2019 next stretch of games. He talked about concentrating on a roster that changed dramatically at the February trade deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy main focus is on these guys and this new team,\u201d Donovan said before the Bulls faced the Philadelphia 76ers. \u201cI understand that there\u2019s stuff out there, and I understand that there is going to be certain speculation. But, I have to concentrate on this group, and really, my focus is on what we\u2019re doing here in Chicago and having a game tonight, and traveling to go and play in a back-to-back.\u201d<\/p>\n

It makes sense why Donovan is such a hot commodity. He\u2019s the architect of the University of Florida dynasty, leading the Gators to consecutive titles in 2006 and 2007 before leaving to coach the NBA\u2019s Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015. Donovan was a master recruiter. He was a terrific in-game coach, and his teams were tough and efficient on both sides of the floor.<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t coached on the collegiate level since 2015. However, he\u2019s still young enough at 60 years old to accept a college job and coach for several years. He would have the kind of NIL budget and a recruiting footprint to thrive at North Carolina. Five-star point guard Dylan Mingo, one of the best players of the current high school class, has already committed to the Tar Heels.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years, I\u2019ve had a lot of college guys reach out to talk to me,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cIt\u2019s different in dealing with players who are being paid now. I also think the cycle of the NBA today is totally different than the cycle of college. I\u2019m focused on what I have to do right now. Like anything else, things are always changing in the game of basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Connections:\"Connections:<\/p>\n

Mar 26, 2026<\/p>\n

Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n

Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n

Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Billy Donovan didn’t deny interest in the UNC job that opened Tuesday night. He left the University of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,329,354,6,12,1770],"class_list":{"0":"post-679261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-draft","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-chicago-bulls","10":"tag-mens-college-basketball","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-nba-draft","13":"tag-north-carolina-tar-heels"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116292819137372073","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}