UNC to hire ex-NBA coach Michael Malone as men's basketball head coach

Shelby Swanson, The News & Observer on Apr 6, 2026

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina is set to hire former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone as its next men’s basketball coach, a source confirmed to the News & Observer Monday afternoon. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Malone, 54, led Denver to its first NBA title in 2022-23 and compiled 510 wins as an NBA head coach before being fired last April. He joined ESPN as an analyst one month later.

A New York native, Malone played point guard at Loyola (Maryland) from 1989-93 before beginning his coaching career as an assistant at Friends School of Baltimore. He was then an assistant at Oakland University under Greg Kampe and later at Providence College with Pete Gillen.

Malone transitioned to the NBA in 2001, spending more than a decade as an assistant with the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Hornets and Golden State Warriors before becoming head coach of the Sacramento Kings in 2013. He took over the Nuggets in 2015 and guided the franchise to its first championship in 2023.

The move signals a dramatic shift for North Carolina men’s basketball, which is turning to the professional ranks rather than its traditional “Carolina family” pipeline to fill its vacancy. It also underscores UNC’s urgency to stabilize the program amid a rapidly evolving college basketball landscape shaped by NIL and the transfer portal — which opens Tuesday at midnight.

Malone replaces Hubert Davis, who was dismissed last month after the Tar Heels’ first-round NCAA Tournament loss to VCU.

Malone’s daughter, Bridget, is a sophomore on the UNC volleyball team.

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