Billy Donovan doesn't exactly deny interest in North Carolina job, says focus is on Bulls

This isn't the first time Billy Donovan's name has come up when a major college program went looking for a new head coach. He is the man who led Florida to back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007, and he's a logical person for those schools to reach out to, even if Donovan had another job as head coach of the Chicago Bulls. Every time his name came up, Donovan shot them down, and when NBC Sports had a conversation with him several years ago, he denied any desire to ever return to coaching in college.

But things change. When the University of North Carolina moved on from coach Hubert Davis recently, Donovan's name came up. This time, he didn't exactly deny interest.

Here was his quote, via Tony Jones of The Athletic . "My main focus is on these guys and this new team. I understand that there's 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're doing here in Chicago, having a game tonight, and traveling to go and play in a back-to-back. " Compare that to former Butler coach turned Boston Celtics coach and now president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, who instantly removed his name from consideration for the Tar Heels job . Donovan was a high-level tactician while at Florida, but, more importantly, was a brilliant recruiter — those championship teams had Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer , and a few other future NBA players.