North Carolina to hire Michael Malone as next basketball coach: Led Nuggets to NBA title in 2022-23
The Tar Heels have landed an unexpected hire as their next coach
UNC is expected to hire former Denver Nuggets coach and 2023 NBA champion Michael Malone as its next leader of the basketball program, sources confirmed to CBS Sports' Matt Norlander. ESPN first reported the news. This comes on the heels of Arizona target Tommy Lloyd signing a long-term extension with the Wildcats during the Final Four and Michigan coach Dusty May removing himself from consideration.
Malone last coached the Nuggets during the 2024-25 season, his 10th as Denver's leader. UNC promised to go "outside the family" with this hire and proved a point with Malone, who wasn't initially listed as a candidate on any of the Tar Heels' reported lists of potential targets.
"Carolina is one of the most historic programs in college basketball, and I am honored to be the head coach of the Tar Heels," Malone said Tuesday in a release. "It is humbling to follow so many legends in Chapel Hill. I know from the many Tar Heels in the NBA how special the Carolina Basketball Family is, and I will do everything I can to continue UNC's championship legacy while preparing our players for professional careers and life after basketball. I offer my thanks to Chancellor (Lee H.) Roberts, Steve (Newmark) and Bubba (Cunningham), the Board of Trustees and the search committee. I am proud to be a Tar Heel and can't wait to get started."
The Nuggets fired Malone and general manager Calvin Booth last April after failing to meet expectations despite another stellar campaign from multi-time MVP Nikola Jokic'. Malone, 54, is a Queens, New York native who spent the first several years of his coaching career in the college ranks as an assistant at Oakland, Providence and Manhattan before joining the NBA ranks in 2001 with the New York Knicks.
This was the first time the Tar Heels conducted an outside search for a head coach since landing Roy Williams from Kansas prior to the 2003-04 season.
Malone worked as an NBA assistant under various staffs for four different franchises for the next 12 seasons before earning his first head-coaching job with the Sacramento Kings in 2013. He took over the Nuggets in 2015 and lasted 10 years prior to his firing in 2025. He was a two-time NBA All-Star Game coach and is the son of Brendan Malone, a former NBA coach.
"Michael was the first coach we engaged with as part of the search process because of his reputation as a selfless teacher and innovator who brings an incredible ability to connect with players and get the absolute best out of those he mentors,'' UNC's Executive Associate Athletic Director Steve Newmark said in a release. "He is a brilliant coach who will deliver a modern and disciplined approach to leading our men's basketball program, which is critical in the current landscape of college athletics. Carolina Basketball is unique and special – and we have hired a leader well-suited to continuing our championship tradition."
Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan was also being considered for the Tar Heels' vacancy. UNC moved on from Hubert Davis following the Tar Heels' NCAA Tournament loss last month.
Iowa's Ben McCollum had contact with North Carolina last week as the search played out, sources told Norlander. UNC was hoping to meet with him in person on Sunday, but McCollum passed on the invitation to remain with the Hawkeyes. Baylor coach Scott Drew also engaged with UNC in recent days, according to sources, but nothing materialized.
Sources indicated to Norlander that UNC hopes to raise enough money to get to $12 million in NIL resources for the 2026-27 season, and that the Tar Heels still need to raise at least $5 million to reach that figure.
UNC will officially introduce Malone on Tuesday afternoon.
"This is a defining moment for Carolina Basketball and for our University, and it calls on all of us to embrace our shared responsibility to steward its future," UNC Chancellor Lee H. Roberts said in a statement. "Michael Malone brings a rare combination of experience across every level of the game, from roots in college basketball to an NBA championship that reflects both the evolution of the sport and the enduring values of this program. He has learned from some of the most respected coaching minds in the game and understands what it takes to develop players, lead teams and sustain excellence over time."
There aren't many previous connections between Malone and the Tar Heels, but Malone's daughter, Bridget, plays volleyball for North Carolina. Last October, Malone visited Chapel Hill and observed the UNC basketball team's first five practices.
"As a head coach, sometimes you can't see the forest through the trees, and I said, 'Coach, it's important for you to know, these guys are getting better,'" Malone said on the Carolina Insider podcast in October after watching preseason practices. "I've watched five or six practices now, and from the first practice today, I see marked improvements. When I watched them, the most important thing for me as a coach that jumped out to me is they're working hard, improving and coming together as a team, but it's not going to happen overnight with so many (new) players."
Former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, once UNC's former bitter rival, was impressed with the hire as colleges shift to a pro model.
"They had an NFL champion hired as the coach and Duke beat Carolina in football this year," Krzyzewski said. "There is time for adjustment. It takes longer if you ever get adjusted coming from the pros to college. Mike is a terrific coach and terrific guy. There's a learning curve. If that is true, whatever the reasoning is … maybe they're changing — they have now two pro coaches coaching in college. The infrastructure of their athletic department, is it becoming more a pro organization? I think everybody should be doing that. Maybe that's a sign they're moving in that direction organizationally."
CBS Sports will update this story.
