It’s a new era in Chapel Hill, and not just because the North Carolina basketball program has reportedly chosen to hire former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.
As a first option, the Carolina athletic department could fairly easily sell me and any other skeptical party on Malone. He won a championship at the highest level of basketball played anywhere in the world, and he did it recently, unlike the other former pro Carolina plucked. Malone also had at least a small role in aiding the development of one of this generation’s greatest basketball players.
As a basketball coach, Malone is fairly indisputable. But he was not a first option. He was a secondary option. And that raises some serious issues. North Carolina didn’t get its guy.
It sure looks like Carolina — yes, the friggin’ Tar Heels — rushed to settle.
And then landed on an experiment.
North Carolina’s first option was undoubtedly Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, who, last week, reportedly turned down more money from a more prestigious brand to stay in Tucson.
According to reporting from CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, North Carolina was also in contact with Iowa coach Ben McCollum. The Tar Heels had hoped to meet with McCollum for an in-person interview, but he said no, per Norlander.
“Malone’s candidacy picked up speed as others removed their names,” Norlander reported on Monday.
It is significantly tougher to sell Malone, who has not coached in college basketball since the 1990s and has never been a college head coach, as a secondary option when it looks like he was rushed into place ahead of the transfer portal opening on Tuesday.
Like our coverage? Make SDS a preferred source in your searches!
At the Final Four over the weekend, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Carolina was more interested in finding the right coach than having any coach in place by the time the portal opened. If that intel came from someone within the Carolina administration, it looks disingenuous in light of the Malone news.
Could the Tar Heels have waited on Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan? The former Florida skipper reportedly wanted to wait until the Bulls’ season ended next week to make a decision. Carolina presumably could have pitched Donovan then if it felt he was the right man for the job.
Donovan has college experience and a championship pedigree. Of course, his college experience was an entirely different world from the current landscape, but it was at least experience.
Malone has never managed a college roster. He hasn’t had to deal with the transfer portal. He hasn’t had to deal with NIL. At the professional level, there are guardrails in place, and athletes conduct themselves as… well… professionals. At the college level, it’s the Wild West.
Part of Malone’s ouster in Denver was because of a toxic working relationship with management. According to longtime Denver insider Matt Moore, Denver’s GM wanted playing time for young players to develop, while Malone wanted to rely on veterans to maximize the team’s championship window. The schism created an environment within the organization, according to Moore, where “you were either a Malone person, or a Calvin [Booth] person.”
ESPN’s Tim McMahon also reported at the time that the rift between Malone and Booth was like a “Cold War” that left everyone in the organization “freakin’ miserable.”
On the court, Denver’s defense sagged in Malone’s final season. Players looked lost. Moore reported on frustrations within the locker room about defensive schematics.
When the Nuggets won the NBA title during the 2022-23 season, they did so with the 16th-ranked defense in the NBA. But they had the NBA’s fifth-best offense to buoy. Denver closed the 2024-25 regular season 22nd in defensive rating.
Malone was fired on April 8, 2025. The move came in the midst of a 4-game losing streak, but it shocked the NBA nonetheless. Denver chose to fire the winningest coach in the organization’s history with just 3 games remaining in the regular season. His dismissal tied the latest in-season change by any team in NBA history, and became the latest for a playoff team.
He had been working as a studio analyst for ESPN since.
Thamel, who broke the Malone news Monday afternoon, wrote that Malone’s reputation as a coach is “high in NBA circles.” He’s a respected tactician.
That didn’t stop him from being fired in the NBA. And it might not ultimately influence whether this new marriage with Carolina will be successful.
Malone needs to stockpile staff members with college connections who can help him in his early days. Relationships are going to make or break this regime. Is Malone up to the task when it comes to recruiting a roster and then keeping everyone happy? Denver’s title team had a 7-man rotation in the playoffs, for what it’s worth.
North Carolina’s hiring of former Super Bowl-winning football coach Bill Belichick must also be mentioned. They are different situations, as Belichick is significantly older than Malone, but Carolina sold its football hire as one geared toward making the program a pro factory.
The move has been a disaster.
Early spin for the Malone hire will be that he’s a wonderful basketball mind with an ability to develop pro players.
His first task will be navigating the transfer portal to build his first roster. He’ll have less than 24 hours to prep for that task, and his first roster will go a long way in determining how many more he gets.
Carolina can presumably attract anyone.
But maybe that’s not a given anymore.
“We know we’ve got the most highly sought-after job in the country,” UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham said last month. “I mean, the history, the tradition, and the success of this program is second-to-none. We will be inundated with requests for consideration.”
Lloyd turned Carolina down. And Dusty May turned the idea of Carolina down. And McCollum turned Carolina down. ESPN reported that TJ Otzelberger was a person of interest, but he publicly committed to Iowa State. CBS Sports reported that Scott Drew “engaged with UNC” in recent days but nothing came of it.
In comes Malone.
It might work. In fact, it might be a smashing success. But the question marks here suggest this is very much an “all or nothing” hire. It’ll be great, or it’ll be a tire fire.
Regardless, it’s fascinating to watch Carolina right now. The Tar Heels, a top-5 brand in college basketball, have advanced beyond the Sweet 16 once since they won the national championship in 2017. The program needs to be in “win now” mode. And yet, after missing on guys without any major red flags, they land on Malone, whose biggest question seems to be whether or not he can keep a room happy.
It’s a new era in Chapel Hill, one with few guarantees.
In comes Michael Malone, out goes North Carolina exceptionalism Saturday Down South.
Hence then, the article about in comes michael malone out goes north carolina exceptionalism was published today ( ) and is available on SATURDAY DOWN SOUTH ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( In comes Michael Malone, out goes North Carolina exceptionalism )
Also on site :