North Carolina Hires Michael Malone as Head Coach in Shocking Move

The Tar Heels have a new head coach which nobody saw coming

Oct 14, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone reacts after he is called for a foul during the first half of the game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images | John Hefti-Imagn Images

There was no bigger job available this offseason in college basketball than North Carolina and after weeks of speculation the Tar Heels hired Michael Malone to be its next head coach, shocking the college basketball world.

The news was first reported by ESPN.

The blueblood program was turned down publicly by Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd and Michigan head coach Dusty May, its top two choices. Many people thought the Tar Heels would wait until the NBA season ended, despite the transfer portal officially opening on April 7, to pursue Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan, but opted against it.

Several other college basketball coaches also reportedly turned down the Tar Heels before they settled on Malone, who has not coached in college basketball 2001 when he was an assistant with Manhattan.

Most recently, Michael Malone last was the head coach of the Denver Nuggets and won the NBA Finals in 2023 yet was fired towards the end of the 2025 regular season, days before the playoffs started.

Since, he has been working as an NBA analyst for ESPN.

Malone has never held a head coaching position at the collegiate level but has family ties to North Carolina as his daughter, Bridget, is a member of the Tar Heels women’s volleyball team.

UNC has been bounced in the Round of 64 in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments under Hubert Davis after reaching the National Championship in his first season and the Sweet 16 in his third season while missing the tournament in his second year.

Davis was fired by the Tar Heels shortly after blowing a 19-point lead to No. 11 seed VCU this season.

Other than his daughter, Malone has no ties to North Carolina which is a rarity. Every coach since Dean Smith had a direct connection to the school through Smith, which make this move even more of a head-scratcher from the Tar Heels.

It’ll be interesting to see how Michael Malone handles the transfer portal, NIL, and all the other chaos that comes with being a college basketball head coach as the rest of the country still tries to figure out what is going on in Chapel Hill.