Hours after it was announced that Hubert Davis would not return as basketball coach next season, we already have our first name removed from the list. Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reports that President of Basketball Operations for the Celtics, Brad Stevens, has removed his name from consideration for the job.

Bringing Stevens back to college basketball was an intriguing idea to many Carolina fans in the wake of the Davis news. Stevens is widely regarded as a brilliant basketball mind and his success with the Celtics has been impressive. Still, the college game is markedly different now than it was when Stevens was coaching it and navigating the world of NIL and the transfer portal has not come easily for everyone. It’s easy to understand by UNC would be interested in Stevens and equally easy to understand why Stevens would want to stay put in the NBA.

Stevens was definitely one of the bigger long shots on the list of names that Carolina might be interested in. The other NBA-connected name on the list has been Billy Donovan, which does not have nearly the support of bringing in Stevens. The most likely outcome is that a current college coach ends up in Chapel Hill.

Just have to figure out the who.