Compared to the other coaches on UNC’s rumored big board of coaching candidates, Michael Malone was not the most intriguing name.
Heck, as far as names go, he wasn’t even the most intriguing Malone in the NBA. Thanks to Karl, Moses and Jeff, he’d be hard-fought to make the podium. Throw in Post, Sam and Bugsy, and he’s outside of the top five best-known Malones. And he’s certainly not the most intriguing Michael associated with the Tar Heels basketball program.
Michael Malone doesn’t have the name brand of the other coaches UNC was calling, but that fact that he is now associated with the basketball program is huge news. He becomes the first basketball coach UNC has hired from the “outside” since Frank McGuire arrived in 1952.
Malone’s daughter, Bridget, plays for UNC’s volleyball team, but as far as basketball connections, he has moved in different circles from the vaunted UNC family throughout his quarter century in the NBA.
A total of 120 different players suited up for Malone during his dozen years as an NBA head coach. Three were Duke products. There were one each from NC State and Wake Forest. Eleven other ACC schools sent players to Malone, as did about 70 other programs from Division I. But not one former Tar Heel played for him. None of the two dozen assistant coaches he employed were from the Carolina Family either.
Hiring an outsider was already a tough pill for the Tar Heel fanbase to swallow. However, the perception that Malone was a lower tier pick, after the program had been shunned by its top choices, had UNC social media channels choked with outrage.
The Heels had targeted Final Four coaches Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May. Lloyd signed an extension to stay with Arizona over the weekend, however, and May removed his name from consideration. Other top targets, including Alabama’s Nate Oats, were also extended. There was a second tier of candidates from college programs, as well as current Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan, but the Heels pulled the trigger on Malone, who had barely been mentioned in the flood of speculation on who was being considered for the job.
Malone was available, having been fired with three games to go in the 2024-25 season, despite leading Denver to a 4-seed in the West. That meant that Carolina wouldn’t have to pay a buy-out to poach a coach from someone else—adding the perception of “low-cost choice” to Malone’s sins in the eyes of the fans.
Malone is a coaching veteran with more than 500 wins in 900 NBA games, as well as an NBA title in 2022-23. He worked on college staffs at Oakland, Providence, Manhattan and UVA in the late 1990s before moving to the pros in 2001.
As an NBA assistant with the Knicks, Cavs, Hornets (in New Orleans) and Warriors, Malone was generally put in charge of defense and gained a reputation on that side of the floor. That changed when he became a head coach, particularly when he arrived in Denver in 2015—the same year as Nikola Jokic.
The combination of Malone and the MVP center produced a revolutionary NBA offense that featured creative sets and positionless big men.
However, Malone won’t be bringing Jokic with him to play center for the Tar Heels, and his offense hasn’t been tested without the versatile post player and excellent passer. Malone will also need to transition to a college game that has changed dramatically since he was last on campus. He’s reportedly planning to retain at least one member of last year’s UNC staff, and he’ll likely add someone with college head coaching experience—a standard move by most first-time college coaches.
He’ll have to learn on the fly. The transfer portal opened the day after he was identified as UNC’s choice, and four Tar Heels are already reported to be entering—Jonathan Powell, Jaydon Young, Derek Dixon, Isaiah Denis (Young later decided to stay at UNC). Powell and Young were transfers to UNC prior to last season, while Dixon and Denis were two thirds of last year’s freshman class. The third member—Caleb Wilson—is leaving for the NBA Draft.
Dylan Mingo, a five-star freshman recruit, also decommitted from UNC on the day Malone’s hiring was first announced, leaving the Heels with two incoming prospects.
Malone will need to identify which of those potential losses he’d like to try to retain as well as ward off any further defections. He’ll also need to work the portal and any remaining high school recruits to try to fill out the roster.
It’s not the big name anyone expected, but Michael Malone will be taking the Tar Heels on their first new path in a long time.
