North Carolina is expected to hire former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone as its next men’s basketball coach, a source briefed on negotiations said Monday.
Malone, 54, emerged as a prime candidate after top college options like Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd and Michigan’s Dusty May removed themselves from the process. Malone, who has never been a college head coach and last worked in college as an assistant at Manhattan in 2001, has 12 seasons of NBA head-coaching experience with the Nuggets and Sacramento Kings, and led Denver to an NBA championship in 2023.
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UNC fired coach Hubert Davis after the team’s first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament last month. ESPN first reported Malone as the expected replacement.
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A source familiar with UNC’s search said the school felt pressure to hire a coach sooner rather than later, with college basketball’s transfer portal set to open Tuesday. Malone’s name first started swirling last week, but gained steam over the last 48 hours. Malone’s X’s and O’s acumen and championship resume made him attractive from an on-court standpoint, as did his understanding of modern basketball trends. And Malone’s time with three-time MVP Nikola Jokic means UNC’s new coach is intimately familiar with Jokic’s agent, Miško Ražnatović, who represents many of the top international prospects seeking to play college basketball.
Malone’s daughter plays volleyball at UNC, meaning he also spent time around the program over the last year. Malone’s staff will now become one of the most important aspects of his early tenure, given his lack of college experience.
Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan was also considered a candidate for the role, but the timing did not line up, with the NBA regular season ending Sunday, five days after the opening of the portal.
This story will be updated.