The North Carolina Tar Heels received a ton of preseason hype heading into the current college basketball season, but they’re falling extremely short of expectations.
As of Wednesday, February 5, UNC is currently 13-10 overall and 6-5 in the ACC. North Carolina has just one win in its past five games, a 102-96 victory over Boston College in which it needed late-second half heroics and overtime to do so. The Tar Heels have the talent to compete, but their failure to land a solid transfer portal big man is hurting them big-time.
College basketball is changing as a whole, but UNC is still trying to thrive with its traditional model: building a winning program in the pre-NIL world.
North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis acknowledged that model isn’t working, so he and the entire program are trying something new: hiring a general manager, similar to what arch-rival Duke has with Rachel Baker.
While the Tar Heels don’t have a GM yet, On3 Sports reported their first two candidates on Wednesday afternoon: Jim Tanner, a longtime sports agent and Buzz Peterson, a former player who helped UNC capture the 1982 NCAA Championship.
Both Tanner and Peterson have ties to North Carolina. Tanner, a UNC graduate, has represented the likes of Grant Hill, ACC legend and current Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, plus former NBA Champion sharpshooter Ray Allen.
Update: Jim Tanner is a candidate for the North Carolina GM position, sources tell @On3sports.
Tanner is a veteran sports agent and is the founder of Tandem Sports. Has represented Hall of Famers like Grant Hill, Tim Duncan, Ray Allen, and others. Has negotiated $291 million… https://t.co/7H7OcxX7eP
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) February 5, 2025
Peterson, despite suiting up for the Tar Heels, never coached in Chapel Hill. Peterson’s first coaching stop came with App State from 1987-1989, where he was an assistant, with head-coaching gigs later at App State, Tulsa, Tennessee, Coastal Carolina and UNC-Wilmington.
Carolina would like to hire a GM from within the UNC family, I’m told.
Buzz Peterson is a strong potential candidate according to multiple sources.
Peterson, 61, most recently served as the assistant GM for the Charlotte Hornets. As a player, he won a National Championship… https://t.co/t3lNH3WCow
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) February 5, 2025
I think North Carolina should explore hiring a GM outside the Carolina Family, but Tipton and Peterson are great first choices. Keep an eye out on more candidates in the near future – will a hire be made in-season?
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: On3 Sports names Jim Tanner, Buzz Peterson as UNC basketball GM picks
