When Michael Malone took his first steps onto the Greensboro Coliseum floor Friday night, he took a look up.
Maybe it was to check the time on the pregame clock. Maybe he was surprised the upper deck of the coliseum had been curtained off, in an homage to Tuesday afternoons at the ACC Tournament. Or maybe, just maybe, as the Tar Heel fans greeted him with a raucous ovation, Malone was taking a moment to think, ‘Is this really happening?’
Malone’s unofficial debut as Carolina’s head coach will go down as a successful one, as his Tar Heels defeated USC 88-70 in a preseason exhibition six months and two days after he was hired by the program.
Between recruiting, playing nice with donors and actually preparing for the basketball season, Malone had hardly slept since that day in April. But Friday night in the bowels of the coliseum, he seemed to think it had all been worth it.
“Being a non-Carolina guy, an ‘outside the family’ guy if you will, the reception, the love from so many former Carolina players has just been tremendous,” Malone said. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to know people that I haven’t known. I’ve known Antawn Jamison and Harrison Barnes and Jawad [Williams] and Danny Green. But getting to know guys like Tyler Hansbrough, getting to know guys that are around all the time, that’s what makes Carolina special.”
One player Tar Heel fans got to know better Friday was Isaiah Denis, the sophomore guard who was stuck at the end of the bench under head coach Hubert Davis last season. After Denis scored 14 points Friday night, Malone recalled a poignant postgame interaction.
“He came up to me after the game and said, ‘Thanks for taking a chance on me,’” Malone remembered. “And I told him, ‘No, thanks for taking a chance on me.’”
Denis had initially entered the transfer portal following Davis’ firing, but withdrew his name after Malone and his staff made a concerted effort to keep him.
“Coach Sully [Pat Sullivan] and Coach [Sean] May vouched for me, and he believed their word,” Denis said. “He watched my film and he trusted in me. And he showed tonight that he trusted in me, having me in at the end of the game. It means a lot for me, and I just want to go out there and show what I can do every time I step on the court.”
It was just one preseason game, but Malone’s coaching performance drew rave reviews from more than just Denis.
“He knew what to say to get us riled up and ready to play in the second half,” said Jarin Stevenson, who scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win. “He just knew how to unlock a lot of different people.”
“He says this every day: our motto is to get better,” said freshman Maximo Adams. “And he’s such a good coach that you want to win for him. Every game is a championship game. We treat it like it’s a championship game.”
It’s still the middle of October, and the Tar Heels are far from winning any championships. But for a fanbase starved for winning basketball, beating a Big Ten opponent in Carolina’s home away from home was a nice way to ring in a new era. That explains why, when Malone made his way out of the tunnel and onto the floor, one of the first fans to greet him was wearing a shirt that said “I Love Mike.”
“I don’t take that lightly,” Malone said. “To have a warm reception, people clapping for you and welcoming you here, that means a lot to me.”
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
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