Malone reportedly to make Chuck Martin, noted as excellent recruiter, his associate head coach

Michael Malone’s first North Carolina staff move is a familiar one for anyone who has tracked John Calipari’s recruiting machine over the past two decades. Arkansas assistant Chuck Martin, the Razorbacks’ recruiting coordinator and one of Calipari’s long-trusted lieutenants, is expected to join Malone in Chapel Hill as UNC’s associate head coach, according to multiple reports on Wednesday.

Five reasons why Michael Malone isn’t ‘Bill Belichick 2.0’

With North Carolina introducing Michael Malone as its head basketball coach, the parallels to football coach Bill Belichick are obvious: both arrived in Chapel Hill as professional champions with zero college head-coaching experience. While the comparison is tempting, it’s ultimately inaccurate. With Malone now in place and having “won” his introductory press conference, it’s increasingly clear that, despite surface-level similarities, these two hires are fundamentally different. Here are five reasons why:

With two of best bullpen arms resting, UNC still gets good relief work in win

CHAPEL HILL — No matter how deep you go in No. 6 North Carolina’s bullpen, the pitchers have consistently done the job. Even while resting two of the Tar Heels’ best relievers, that was the case until a late hiccup on Tuesday in an 8–4 victory over Charlotte at Boshamer Stadium for the Tar Heels’ eighth victory in nine games.

Six early priorities for Malone at UNC

As North Carolina turns the keys over to Michael Malone, he’ll need to act on many fronts to quickly stabilize a program with high expectations. The transfer portal just opened on Tuesday, immediately putting pressure on him to address many pressing issues.