St. John’s University assistant Mike Dunlap will be the next head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard on Monday.

Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins said Friday the team was getting closer to making a decision on their next head coach. At the time, Higgins said two finalists in Pacers assistant Brian Shaw and Lakers assistant coach Quin Snyder had a second round of interviews that included Bobcats owner Michael Jordan. However, Higgins would not rule out the possibility of the team interviewing another candidate.

Dunlap has some NBA experience, having spent two years as an assistant coach under George Karl with the Denver Nuggets. And he served as the de facto head coach at St. John’s for most of this past season, as head coach Steve Lavin recuperated from prostate cancer surgery.

Dunlap will replace Paul Silas, who was not granted a contract extension after the team finished 7-59 this past season, the worst winning percentage (.106) in NBA history.

The Bobcats also interviewed Orlando assistant coach Patrick Ewing, Charlotte assistant Stephen Silas, ex-Portland coach Nate McMillan, Golden State assistant Michael Malone, Cleveland assistant Nate Tibbetts and Memphis assistant Dave Joerger. Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan told the team last week he was withdrawing from consideration for the job.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

The NBA Board of Governors on Wednesday approved the sale of the New Orleans Hornets to Tom Benson, the league announced.

The sale will be officially closed later this week. The Hornets are expected to make an official announcement concerning Benson’s take-over on Thursday.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed off on the state’s capital outlay bill, which included nearly $60 million for improvements to New Orleans Arena, as well as on the extension of the Quality Jobs Tax Credit, both elements which were critical in the agreement the state had with the Hornets to extend the lease in the Arena through 2024.

The July issue of Charlotte magazine is at the printer. They’re excited about a piece by Jeremy Markovich about the grassroots movement to reclaim the Charlotte Hornets name. It’s a story about nostalgia, hope, and this city’s tumultuous relationship with professional basketball. They’re so excited that we did something they’ve never done before. They made a trailer!

This could be nothing at all; mere speculation on his part.

Or it could be the news we’ve all been waiting for…

New Orleans-based reporter Paul Murphy posted this to his Twitter account earlier, then quickly took it down. Did he mean to send it via private message? Was he just assuming that we’d claim the name once it becomes available? Hard to say. What is clear: we’ve officially gone 100% mainstream.

The BUZZ is coming BACK, Charlotte. BEELIEVE THAT!!! 😀 😀 😀

(HUGE thanks to True Beeliever Austin Flye for this scoop. Great job!!!)

This is something that definitely deserves to be read!

The “Buzz” in Charlotte?. by ryanwolf49