By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Michael Malone’s Denver Nuggets were known for torrid defense, and he says that it will be the cornerstone of how North Carolina will play under his leadership.
Malone described himself at his Tuesday introductory press conference at the Smith Center as “a defensive-minded coach,” and he framed his approach as both philosophical and practical in how it connects one end of the floor to the other.
“I believe defense wins championships,” Malone said. “I think everything starts on the defensive end of the floor. Your defense is the beginning of your offense.”
That emphasis, he said, will not be a slogan. It will be a daily demand, starting with how Carolina defends and rebounds, and then how it turns stops into tempo. Even though he only observed practices and watched UNC games last season, he talked about how “we” didn’t rebound well enough last season.
“If you can defend, you can rebound,” Malone said, “What does that allow you to do, though? That allows you to get out and run. I want to be a team that defends, rebounds at a high level and gets out and runs, playing a fast-paced, up-tempo basketball and attack before they get set.”
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He was direct about the kind of game he wants to play, and what he does not want to live in.
“I don’t want to play half-court basketball,” Malone said. “We’ll be able to do it when you have to. But my goal is, through defense and rebounding, we can get out and run and attack.”
The shift from the NBA to college does not change that blueprint as much as it changes the day-to-day of its implementation. Malone joked that he is still wrapping his mind around the two 20-minute halves, but he also said the game’s fundamentals translate, especially if the foundation is relationships and teaching.
“Basketball is basketball,” he said. “Players not only want to be coached, but they also want to know that you care. We used to say in the NBA, players don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
In the NBA, Malone said, relationships are everything, but the dynamic can be more transactional because of age, money and life circumstances. In college, he said, the responsibility expands because the players are still becoming who they are.
“They don’t want me just to help them become a better basketball player,” Malone said. “They want somebody that’s going to mentor them and help them become the best young men that they possibly can be. That’s something that I do not take lightly.”
Watching his words intently were Luka Bogovac, Ivan Matlekovic, Derek Dixon, Caleb Wilson, Kyan Evans, Jonathan Powell and Henri Veesaar.
The expectations he outlined for his roster, and for the roster he will build, sounded like a checklist that begins with effort and ends with trust. Before he gets into numbers, he said he wants players with a motor and a willingness to work.
“I love guys who have a motor, who play hard,” Malone said. “You don’t have to wind them up and motivate them. I love self-motivated players who play hard. Toughness — you can’t put a dollar sign on toughness, and then IQ. Those are the things that jump out regardless of position.”
He wants those traits to show up in the way Carolina plays as a team, not just in how hard it plays. Malone said he is intent on building a team that is “completely selfless,” one that checks ego and shares the ball.
“We can accomplish a hell of a lot more as a team,” he said. “We over me.”
His best Denver teams, he said, were tied together by unselfishness, and he wants that to be a defining quality in Chapel Hill as well.
“If there’s an open man, make the pass, don’t hold the ball,” Malone said. “Sharing the ball unites teams.”
That brand of basketball, Malone said, is inseparable from the culture he intends to establish. A culture, he emphasized, is not something you unveil once and admire. It is something you build and reinforce every day, in practice and in how players carry themselves.
“I want to surround myself with players who have that kind of work ethic,” Malone said. “I shouldn’t have to go to practice and try to motivate you every day.”
The way he described it, the identity will also require trust — between teammates and within the program.
“The last part is being a team that trusts one another,” Malone said. “Make the open pass, make the right play. I always have to make sure I’m showing them that I trust my coaches and I trust them at times.”
As he transitions from pro basketball back to college, Malone acknowledged there is “a lot to learn,” including the realities of roster building in the transfer portal. He said he plans to surround himself with experienced people to help him navigate a landscape that did not exist the last time he coached in college, while also hiring a staff with recruiting reach and relationships.
“When I coached in college many years ago, this wasn’t a thing,” Malone said of the portal. “I’m going to surround myself with the best people possible to help me get a better grasp on it so we can attack it.”
Even with the newness, he said his core beliefs are steady, and he sounded comfortable putting those beliefs against Carolina’s standard.
Malone said he met with his players Tuesday afternoon and laid out “my vision” and “what I expect from them,” including style of play and culture. “I want guys to commit to that, buy into that,” he said. “My only goal is to get better every day.”
He also leaned into the idea that the job is both modern and historic, and that he has to carry both at once. Malone repeatedly referred to himself as “an outsider” entering what he called “a really intimate family,” and he said he understands the need to honor the past while pushing the program forward.
“I have to balance being true to the past and honoring tradition while also having my eyes on the future,” Malone said. “The game is always changing, and if you see us doing things a little bit differently, it’s OK. Embrace that.”
The nod to tradition was not abstract. Malone wore a Dean Smith lapel pin and spoke about the weight of the names attached to the building.
“This is North Carolina,” Malone said. “This is Roy Williams. This is Dean Smith. This is Coach Guthridge.”
He said he intends to draw on the voices and experience within the program, including Williams and other Tar Heel fixtures, as he shapes the next version of Carolina basketball.
“We’re going to do it our way,” Malone said. “I’m going to use people like Coach Williams, Coach Eddie Fogler, Pat Sullivan and Sean May and learn from them and push forward.”
In the end, the style Malone described was simple in its outline and demanding in its daily execution, defending, rebounding, running, sharing the ball and playing for each other.
He intends to build a culture sturdy enough to withstand pressure and modern enough to thrive in a game that keeps changing.
“You guys have watched a lot of great basketball here,” Malone said. “A lot of teams play with each other. There’s a big difference. The great teams play for each other. I want our guys to play for each other each and every night.”
Roster assuming all players with eligibility other than Caleb Wilson, Isaiah Denis, Derek Dixon, Kyan Evans, Jonathan Powell, Jaydon Young, James Brown and Zayden High return and the players in the incoming freshman class hold in their commitment, which would put UNC six under the 15-player limit. The class for next season is listed.
| No./ Stars | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Freshman | Dylan Mingo | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| 5 | Freshman | Maximo Adams | SF | 6–7 | 205 |
| 4 | Freshman | Malloy Smith | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| 40 | Junior | Ivan Matlekovic | 5 | 7–0 | 255 |
| 44 | Senior | Luca Bogavac | W | 6–6 | 215 |
| 13 | RS senior | Henri Veesaar | 5 | 7–0 | 225 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson | 4 | 6–10 | 215 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Junior | John Holbrook | 4 | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | 2 | 6–1 | 195 |
In transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Brown | Senior | C | 6–10 | 240 |
| Isaiah Denis | Sophomore | G | 6–4 | 180 |
| Derek Dixon | Sophomore | G | 6–5 | 200 |
| Kyan Evans | Senior | G | 6–2 | 175 |
| Zayden High | Junior | C | 6–10 | 230 |
| Jonathan Powell | Junior | G | 6–6 | 190 |
| Jaydon Young | Senior | G | 6–4 | 200 |
Key offseason dates
Tuesday — Transfer portal opens
April 16 — Deadline to request evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee
11:59 p.m. April 21 — Transfer portal closes
11:59 p.m. April 26 — NBA early entry deadline
May 8–10 — G-League Combine in Chicago
May 10 — NBA Draft Lottery
May 10–17 — NBA Draft Combine in Chicago
May 27 (11:59 p.m.) — NCAA early-entry withdrawal deadline
Week of June 22 (date to be determined) — NBA Draft
Photo by Smith Hardy
