Malone to UNC
- Michael Malone was hired as North Carolina's head coach, with Antawn Jamison playing a notable role in the hire. (fayobserver.com) - After Hubert Davis's firing and Malone's arrival, nine players entered the transfer portal, signaling major roster churn. (espn.com) - Malone hasn't coached at the college level since 2001, though he brings an NBA resume that includes a 2024 title with Denver. (cbssports.com)
North Carolina turned to Michael Malone on April 7, hiring the former Denver Nuggets coach to replace Hubert Davis after five seasons in Chapel Hill. (goheels.com) (espn.com) Malone was introduced that day at the Dean E. Smith Center after the university approved his hire, ending a search that began when Davis was fired in late March after North Carolina’s first-round NCAA tournament loss to Virginia Commonwealth. (unc.edu) (sportingnews.com) The move gives North Carolina an NBA lifer, not a recent college coach. Malone’s Carolina bio says he spent 24 years in the NBA, and his last college job was as a Manhattan assistant from 1999 to 2001. (goheels.com) (sportingnews.com) His résumé is built on Denver, where he led the Nuggets to the franchise’s first National Basketball Association title in 2023 before the team fired him on April 8, 2025. (unc.edu) (denverpost.com) North Carolina’s roster changed almost immediately after the coaching switch. ESPN reported that nine Tar Heels entered the transfer portal, though two later withdrew, leaving Malone to rebuild around a roster that kept changing through April. (espn.com) (usatoday.com) That churn followed a season that ended with a 24-9 record and an overtime collapse against Virginia Commonwealth after North Carolina led by 19 points. The loss accelerated pressure on a program that measures coaches against six national titles and regular Final Four runs. (frontofficesports.com) (espn.com) Antawn Jamison, the former Tar Heels star and 1998 national player of the year, played a visible role in the search and in selling Malone on the job, according to The Fayetteville Observer. That tied the hire to Carolina’s alumni network even as the school departed from its recent pattern of choosing coaches with deep college ties. (fayobserver.com) (goheels.com) Malone said at his introduction that he came to Chapel Hill to win and to protect North Carolina’s standard. His first months on the job have looked less like a handoff and more like a full reset. (cbs17.com) (espn.com)
