By Brian Murphy, Pat Welter

North Carolina basketball has hired its first general manager, choosing an alum with extensive experience in the business of basketball.

North Carolina alum Jim Tanner, a longtime sports agent who founded his own agency and has represented more than 70 NBA players including numerous former UNC basketball players, will take on the role under head coach Hubert Davis.

“It’s a position that the program wanted and I felt like it was needed,” Davis said at his weekly press conference on Friday. “I’m so happy that Jim is a part of our program and a part of our team.

The program said Tanner’s duties will include building and managing the roster, negotiating contracts, hiring new scouting and analytics staff and spearheading player development programs. His title is executive director and general manager. Davis indicted that Tanner will get to work right away.

In early February, Davis said publicly that the program would hire a general manager, in part, to allow him to focus on coaching basketball.

“College athletics has changed especially in the last four years,” Davis said Friday. “I think you should always be in a position of listening and learning. There’s times when you’re going to tweak, pivot and change things and be able to adapt and that’s something I’ve always been willing to do as a person, a player, and now as a coach.”

Tanner’s name surfaced almost immediately as a candidate, according to a report from On3 Sports. Tanner founded Tandem Sports + Entertainment in 2013 after working as a corporate attorney and then a partner.

He has represented NBA stars Tim Duncan, Grant Hill and Vince Carter and worked with former UNC players Carter, Marvin Williams, Tyler Hansbrough, Justin Jackson, Raymond Felton, Luke Maye, Joel Berry, Brandan Wright and John Henson. Davis said his relationship with Tanner dates back to Davis’ time as an assistant coach under Roy Williams.

“To be around someone you enjoy and like that’s a huge thing. I want to be around good people, I want to be around people that I enjoy working with that when they walk into a room you break out in a smile,” Davis said. “And also have not only similar personality traits, but similar in terms of loving this place.”

Tanner grew up in High Point and attended UNC on a Morehead-Cain Scholarship. He graduated in 1990 before attending law school at the University of Chicago. Both of his children attended UNC. He is on the Board of Directors for the College of Arts and Sciences.

“I think UNC is the perfect college experience,” he said in a 2021 interview. “Rigorous and excellent academics. A diverse student body. Incredible athletic teams. A beautiful campus. An amazing social life. I want to go back! I have this overall memory of it being four of the best years of my life.”

Now he is back — in a role that is expanding across college athletics due to rule changes since 2021 that have altered the landscape, including name, image and likeness, immediate eligibility for transfers and, likely soon, direct revenue sharing with athletes.

“The landscape of college basketball has changed dramatically in a short period of time with NIL, collectives and the transfer portal,” Tanner said in a statement. “It’s a highly competitive and constantly evolving environment.”

Most football programs have hired general managers or have a similar role. North Carolina has general managers for its football and women’s basketball programs. Duke men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer hired Rachel Baker, a former Nike executive, as general manager in one of his first moves.

UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham highlighted Tanner’s experience in negotiating contracts and identifying talent.

“This is a new position at Carolina, but it is one that numerous programs, including ours, have identified as essential to continue to compete at the championship level in college basketball,” Cunningham said in a statement.

Source: wralsportsfan.com