Report: North Carolina basketball hires long time agent Jim Tanner as new GM

North Carolina basketball is hiring long time sports agent Jim Tanner as its new general manager, according to a report from Inside Carolina.

Tanner is a 1990 graduate of North Carolina and is a native of High Point (N.C.). He attended the university on the prestigious Morehead-Cain scholarship.

North Carolina was bound to hire a GM, as head coach Hubert Davis teased this month. It ended up being Tanner.

“Yes, we’re going to hire a GM,” Davis said. “We need a director of marketing and fundraising for NIL, for program needs… The old model for Carolina basketball just doesn’t work, it’s not sustainable. It has to build out because there’s so many things in play with NIL, the transfer portal, agents, international players.

“You just need a bigger staff to be able to maintain things, and you need a bigger staff so I can do what I’m supposed to be doing, (which) is coaching basketball.”

Jim Tanner hired as UNC GM

Tanner has a list of clients in the NBA that include Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane, San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan, New Jersey Nets guard Cam Thomas, and Cleveland Cavaliers forward Jarrett Allen.

The Hall of Famer is on Tanner’s resume as well with clients such as Ray Allen, Grant Hill, Tim Duncan, Nikki McCray-Penson, and Tamika Catchings, as well as Ja Morant, Thad Young, Serge Ibaka, Jeremy Lin, Josh Childress, Shane Battier, Jason Richardson, and Dominque Wilkins.

Tanner founded “Tandem,” his full-time service agency. He assists clients with reaching their on and off the court goals, which includes contract negotiations.

In this current college athletics climate, a guy like Tanner could prove to be a difference maker for a major university.