Report: UNC hiring Michael Malone as head coach
North Carolina intends to hire longtime NBA coach Michael Malone as head coach of its men's basketball team, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Malone will replace Hubert Davis, who didn’t return after the Tar Heels' latest NCAA Tournament disappointment.
Malone spent 10 seasons as head coach of the Denver Nuggets before they fired him in April 2025. He's the winningest coach in franchise history with a 471-327 regular-season record from 2015-25. The 54-year-old led the Nuggets to an NBA title in 2023.
The New York native previously coached the Sacramento Kings, who dismissed him partway through his second season with the team in 2014.
Malone has limited experience in college basketball. He served as an assistant at Oakland, Providence, and Manhattan from 1994-2001 before starting to work in the NBA. His daughter, Bridget, is a volleyball player at UNC.
Malone is the first North Carolina coach without any previous direct ties to the school since Frank McGuire, who preceded the legendary Dean Smith.
The Tar Heels were eliminated in the first round of March Madness in each of the past two seasons.
Several candidates reportedly spurned North Carolina in recent days. Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan - a two-time national champion at Florida - was reportedly open to potentially taking the job, but he wasn't willing to discuss his future before the NBA regular season ends April 12.
However, North Carolina athletic director Steve Newmark "panicked" after Michigan's Dusty May and Arizona's Tommy Lloyd turned down the position, a source told Field of 68's Jeff Goodman.
Vanderbilt boss Mark Byington was also a top candidate for the job, a source told Goodman.