North Carolina hired Michael Malone, a former NBA coach, to lead the basketball program, paying him $50M over six years. It’s the school’s first move “outside the family” in decades and he’ll be the fifth new coach in the ACC next season.
Michael Malone, 54, had a 24-year NBA coaching career (12 as a head coach with 10 in Denver where he won a championship in 2023) and is described as a selfless teacher and innovator who can move UNC to a higher level. He wanted to be “part of something bigger than myself,” Malone said in his first remarks here after taking the job.
He has spent seven seasons in the college coaching ranks, serving as an assistant coach at Oakland University under Greg Kampe, at Providence and Virginia under Pete Gillen and Manhattan College, where he was the lead assistant for two seasons.
His contract allocates $2M annually for assistants and staff. News reports said he’ll retain former UNC assistants Sean May, Pat Sullivan, Eric Hoots and hire Chuck Martin, a recruiting wiz at Arkansas, as the associate head coach. They worked together at Manhattan.
The three most important features UNC was looking for in a new head coach, according to the N&O, “They need to be an elite teacher, innovator, strategist and leader.”
“They need to kind of display and possess the character and integrity that’s consistent with our university and our principles.”
“They need to believe in—not just acknowledge and recognize—they need to believe in the importance of the Carolina family and the Carolina tradition and what that means to the UNC community.”
Malone exemplified all of these traits, incoming UNC AD Steve Newmark said. His experience “warrants that type of compensation,” and “if you look at where he has been compensated in the NBA, he’s taking this [cut] because he’s passionate about it.”
Malone was fired by the Nuggets in 2025, and has worked for ESPN as an analyst since. His daughter is a UNC sophomore and volleyball player.