04/07/26 02:23:00
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04/07 14:21 CDT North Carolina hires NBA championship-winning coach Michael
Malone to lead Tar Heels
North Carolina hires NBA championship-winning coach Michael Malone to lead Tar
Heels
By AARON BEARD
AP Basketball Writer
North Carolina has officially hired NBA championship-winning coach Michael
Malone to lead the Tar Heels' basketball program.
The school announced Malone's hiring on Tuesday and scheduled an introductory
news conference for later in the day. Malone will replace Hubert Davis, who was
fired March 24 after five seasons as the successor to retired Hall of Famer Roy
Williams.
In a statement, UNC executive associate athletic director Steve Newmark
described Malone as a "selfless teacher and innovator."
"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," said Newmark, who will succeed Bubba
Cunningham as AD on July 1. "Carolina Basketball is unique and special --- and
we have hired a leader well-suited to continuing our championship tradition."
The 54-year-old Malone spent 12 seasons as a head coach in the NBA, including a
10-year run in Denver. He led the Nuggets to the 2023 championship behind
three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic.
The Nuggets fired Malone last spring with less than a week left in that regular
season. Almost a year to the day, in another surprise move, Malone is taking
over a blueblood program with six national titles, a record 21 appearances in
the Final Four and alums including Michael Jordan, James Worthy Vince Carter
and Atlantic Coast Conference career scoring leader Tyler Hansbrough.
"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 in a statement. "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."
Davis' firing opened one of the top jobs in college basketball for only the
fourth time since the late Hall of Famer Dean Smith's retirement after 36
seasons in October 1997. The job had stayed in the "Carolina Family" ever
since. Longtime assistant Bill Guthridge replaced Smith, followed by former UNC
player Matt Doherty, former Smith assistant Williams and then Davis, who played
under Smith and worked on Williams' staff.
Malone has never been a college head coach and has spent most of his career in
the NBA. His primary connection to UNC athletics is the presence of daughter
Bridget on the Tar Heels' volleyball team, while he told the UNC athletic
department's "Carolina Insider" podcast in October that he had attended
multiple recent basketball practices --- with Davis even asking him to speak to
the team at least once.
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