UNC has already swung and missed at dream candidate to replace Hubert Davis

You have to appreciate the sheer audacity of the shot callers at North Carolina.

Since Brad Stevens left Butler to take over as the head coach of the Boston Celtics, every big-name program with a vacancy has shot its shot with him. Since he transitioned from the Celtics bench to the front office, every big college job and every NBA team with a vacancy has dreamed of landing him as the head coach.

Of course North Carolina thought they would be the program to get Stevens back to the bench.

And of course they were wrong.

According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, Stevens has already removed himself from consideration for the job:

Brad Stevens has already told North Carolina 'No'

There are still quite a few names out there in consideration for the North Carolina job that should terrify Duke fans, but Stevens was never going to be a realistic candidate, and it's hilarious that the Tar Heels faithful thought he might be.

Stevens hasn't coached college basketball since 2013 and hasn't coached at all in five years. He seems content in his job as the President of Basketball Operations in Boston.

North Carolina will probably find a quality coach to take over. But wasting their time on Stevens, and potentially now wasting their time on Billy Donovan, who has been out of college coaching for over a decade, too, makes it all the more likely that the top candidates on their board end up signing extensions with their current schools instead of making the move to Chapel Hill.

So let UNC continue to waste its time on candidates who aren't realistic. Maybe they'll focus on guys like Todd Golden with ridiculous buyouts, or coaches like Dusty May and Tommy Lloyd who are still coaching in the NCAA Tournament, and favorites to make it to Indianapolis for the Final Four.

The longer the search can go, the more likely North Carolina has to settle for an option much lower on their board.