By R.L. Bynum
Michael Malone said he turned down the North Carolina job three times before taking it and that Hall of Fame former UNC coach Roy Williams had a lot to do with him taking on the challenge.
Malone made the comments during a 15½-minute appearance with Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports on Tuesday’s episode of the “Inside College Basketball Now” podcast. Across the conversation, Malone touched on his path back to college basketball, his relationship with Williams, how he built his staff and what he wants from his first Tar Heels team.
Malone is the first men’s basketball coach UNC has hired since Frank McGuire with no previous ties to the school, and Rothstein asked how he plans to bridge that gap.
“You talk about Frank McGuire, a nice, good Irishman from New York City, Mike Malone, another Irishman from New York City,” Malone said in the podcast taped on Monday. “And the way I’m going to bridge that gap, and I think when I put together my staff, I did it with intent and purpose.”
That connection to the program’s past extended to his coaching staff, and to his relationship with Williams, which Malone credited with pushing him toward Chapel Hill.
“Coach Williams had a lot to do with me taking this job,” Malone said. “I like to say I turned the job down three times, and I felt finally at peace about that, and I was going to stay in the NBA and continue my NBA journey. And I had a couple of great conversations with Hall of Famer Coach Roy Williams, and I had just met him. I just got to know him, but I feel like I’ve known him for years. Coach Williams has that kind of impact on you.”
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Malone said what stuck with him most was Williams’ devotion, love and passion for the program and how welcoming Williams has been to him and his family.
“I told him he can sit in my seat some nights if he wants to, and I’ll go sit in the stands,” Malone said. “But he said he doesn’t want to do that anymore. But Coach Williams is the best. He and his wife Wanda are just unbelievable people, and they care about one thing: they care about this university and this program.”
Malone explained why he ultimately said yes on the fourth attempt, describing a home visit from Steve Newmark, now UNC’s athletics director, and director of basketball operations Eric Hoots.
“What do they say in the mob? Right, they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” Malone said. “I had been speaking to them for a couple of weeks, and each time I talked to them, I learned a little bit more about the school.”
He knocked down any notion that he came to UNC because his daughter plays volleyball there, and said that he’s never been afraid of a challenge.
“I grew up a Carolina fan,” Malone said. “My father was a huge Dean Smith fan, and obviously, if my father loved Dean Smith, I was going to love Dean Smith, and so that was something that was taught to me at an early age.”
Malone said his tenure with the Denver Nuggets, which included a 2023 NBA title, also factored into the decision. He didn’t like how his tenure ended and wanted to get back to coaching in the NBA.
“What really made the decision easier for me, as I thought about it, was that I love and embrace the challenge, and North Carolina basketball presented an opportunity that very few people even have a chance to consider, and I did not want to have any regrets years down the road.”
He added that the work has consumed his schedule since.
“I didn’t come here to hang out. People say, ‘Coach, golf.’ I don’t golf. I work,” Malone said. “I’ve been in the gym. We’ve been working hard trying to get this program back to where all of Tar Heel Nation wants it to be.”
A jump back to college basketball
Malone described the last 4½ months since taking the job in blunt terms.
“Chaos,” Malone said. “I felt after 25 years in the NBA making this jump to come back to college basketball, the reason I made this jump and to come to school like the University of North Carolina was because I felt that we could win and compete for championships every year.”
Building a staff with Carolina ties
Malone said he was deliberate about surrounding himself with people connected to the program’s history while also bringing in outside voices. He retained Sean May and Pat Sullivan, both of whom won national titles at UNC, and brought in former players Deon Thomson and Brandon Robinson.
“I found a way to keep that connection with the past and the tradition of excellence and winning,” Malone said, “while also hiring guys like Chuck Martin, a dear close friend of mine for the last 30 years, to come in and be my associate head coach, to bring in a guy like Brian Tibaldi from Providence College, who has NBA experience as well, and Jorge Sanz, who I just hired, who was working for Hall of Fame coach Mark Few at Gonzaga. Jorge brings an international background, being from Spain originally.”
Adjusting his eye for talent
Having coached NBA stars such as Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, Malone said evaluating high school prospects required a mental reset.
“It was definitely a transition, and I’ve had to train my eyes,” Malone said. “These kids are 16, 17 years old, and once I was able to adjust my eyes and realize I have to take these players for who they are in this moment and evaluate them on that, while also having the ability to look forward, to look at the potential that they have, and help them.”
Malone said his NBA background gives him credibility with recruits that few college coaches can match.
“There are a lot of coaches that can talk to these recruits about, “Listen, I want, I can help you get to the NBA.’ I know what it takes to get to the NBA,” he said. “I know what it takes to be successful in the NBA. Well, guess what? I can do more than just talk about it. I’ve done that. I’ve walked that walk. I’ve been around five MVPs. I’ve been around 20-plus All-Stars in my many years in the NBA. We did win a championship in Denver, the first in franchise history.”
He said the demands of the college calendar have been an adjustment.
“This is different than the NBA. There are no off days. You think you’ve got one thing done, one class is done. There’s another class to get ready for, and a class behind that,” Malone said. “So, we embrace it, we love it, and our goal is to get better every day. I think we’ve done a really good job with that in the last four months.”
Balancing the portal with high school recruiting
Malone said his approach to roster building will lean on both high school prospects and the transfer portal, without favoring one path exclusively.
“This is North Carolina. We’re going to get the best players in the country. We’re not going to settle. We’re not going to take a back seat to anybody. We’re going to go out and get the best players. And if we feel we can get a high school player that can come in here and make an impact right away, we’re going to get that player,” Malone said. “Then you also have, come the springtime after the season, now you have the transfer portal.”
Malone has made offers to six of the top seven players in the Class of 2027.
He pointed to this year’s roster construction as an example of that balance, citing transfers Terrence Brown Jr., Matt Able and Neoklis Avdalas, along with late additions Angelo Brizzi and Cameron Fens, plus incoming freshmen Maximo Adams, Sayon Keita and Kevin Thomas.
“We feel that we did a hell of a job, and even getting guys late, as well as some new young players, with returning players, it’s a real healthy mix, and so we’ll balance it,” Malone said. “I know some coaches say I’m not going to do high school; I’m going all portal. Well, I wouldn’t do that at Carolina because we have a special place, and we feel we can get the best players in the country year in and year out, and that’s what we plan to do.”
Building team culture with a largely new roster
With only five returning players and three returning scholarship players from last season, Malone said the biggest challenge has been forging a team identity among 11 newcomers.
“In a short period of time, how do you, as a coach, help foster an environment where it’s not about NIL money, it’s not about how much he is making, how much am I making? Leave that at the door,” Malone said. “If we want to win big, if we want to win at the highest level and be in Detroit for the Final Four, we have to find a way to build a team.”
Malone said the group showed promise during preseason work.
“The guys we had our eight weeks this summer, the guys that were here, I felt they bought in, they committed, they worked hard,” Malone said. “We had some conditioning [Monday] morning. Guys are excited, and you can feel the energy.”
Season goals: get better every day
Asked what he wants to accomplish in his first season, Malone said the objective starts well before postseason ambitions.
“This may sound corny, but it’s something that I truly believe in. I told our players this the day I got the job. I reminded them [Sunday] night at our team meeting. Goal number one is not to win a championship because every team says that,” Malone said. “If you’re serious about that, your first goal is always going to be: We have to find a way to get better every day, and that might be in a conditioning weight room [or a] player development session.
“That might be in a practice, in a shootaround, in a film session, whatever it may be,” he said. “We have to find a way as a program to get a win every day and to get better. And if you do that, that’s going to be shown in your everyday actions. If you do that, then you’ll have a chance, come NCAA tournament time, to be a team that can compete and maybe get to a Final Four.”
His second goal centers on identity and effort rather than results.
“I want our guys to buy into our style of play and our identity and how we want to play,” Malone said. “Regardless of the result, I want our fans to walk out of the Dean Smith Center every night and say, you know what, they played hard, they played with toughness, they played together. Those are things that I think resonate with people. You can be proud of a team when they do those things, and that’s been my goal when I took over the Sacramento Kings as a head coach. That was my goal in year one when I took over the Denver Nuggets almost 12 years ago, and that’s my goal this year, going into year one.”
Malone closed by reflecting on the significance of the seat he now occupies.
“Sitting in that seat that Dean Smith sat in, that Roy Williams sat in, Bill Guthridge, and all the other coaches, Hubert Davis. That’s something I do not take lightly, and we’re committed to working as hard as we can, to go out there and have the best season possible while building a team and being a team that all the fans could be proud of, both on and off the court.”
You can watch the entire podcast here.
| No./ Stars | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 star | Freshman | Maximo Adams | SF | 6–7 | 205 |
| 3 star | Freshman | Malloy Smith | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| 5 star | Freshman | Sayon Keita | C | 7–0 | 215 |
| 4 star | Freshman | Kevin Thomas | W | 6–7 | 190 |
| Freshman | Alexandros Samodurov | C | 6–11 | 212 | |
| RS freshman | Cade Bennerman — U | C | 7–0 | 205 | |
| Sophomore | Neoklis Avdalas — W | G | 6–9 | 215 | |
| Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 180 | |
| Sophomore | Matt Able — X | G | 6–5 | 196 | |
| 1 | Senior | Terrence Brown — Y | G | 6–3 | 174 |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson | F | 6–10 | 215 |
| Graduate | Angelo Brizzi — Z | G | 6–3 | 193 | |
| Graduate | Cameron Fens — V | C | 7–0 | 255 | |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Junior | John Holbrook — SA | F | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | G | 6–1 | 195 |
V — South Dakota transfer; U — Northwestern transfer; W — Virginia Tech transfer; X — N.C. State transfer; Y — Utah transfer; Z — Buffalo transfer; SA — Holbrook is a designated student-athlete, so he doesn’t count against UNC’s 15-player limit.
Michael Malone’s coaching staff: Chuck Martin, Bryan Tibaldi, Sean May, Jorge Sanz, and Pat Sullivan; Deon Thompson will be a graduate assistant, and Brandon Robinson will reportedly have a support staff position.
Players who entered transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka Bogavac | Senior | W | 6–6 | 215 | Oklahoma State |
| James Brown | Senior | C | 6–10 | 240 | Howard |
| Derek Dixon | Sophomore | G | 6–5 | 200 | Arizona |
| Kyan Evans | Senior | G | 6–2 | 175 | Minnesota |
| Zayden High | Junior | C | 6–10 | 230 | South Florida |
| Jonathan Powell | Junior | G | 6–6 | 190 | Pittsburgh |
| Ivan Matlekovic | Junior | C | 7–0 | 255 | Pacific |
| Seth Trimble | Graduate | G | 6–3 | 200 | Louisville |
Schedule revealed so far
| Date | Month/day | Opponent/event (final ranks) |
|---|---|---|
| October | ||
| 9 | Friday, 7 p.m. | vs. USC in Greensboro (exhibition) |
| 18 | Sunday | vs. Indiana in Indianapolis (exhibition) |
| November | ||
| 2 | Monday | vs. Western Carolina |
| 6 | Friday | vs. Wofford |
| 10 | Tuesday | vs. Wyoming |
| 13 | Friday | vs. Georgia |
| 20 | Friday | vs. Marshall |
| 27 | Friday | vs. West Virginia in Charlotte |
| December | ||
| 1 | Tuesday | ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 13 Arkansas |
| 6 | Sunday | vs. Butler |
| 12 | Saturday | at Georgetown |
| 15 | Tuesday (date tentative) | vs. N.C. State in Greensboro |
| 19 | 2:30 Saturday | CBS Sports Classic vs. Kentucky in New York |
| 21 | Monday | vs. The Citadel |
| January | ||
| 30 | Saturday | vs. No. 5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn. |
ACC games
Home and away: Duke and Louisville
Home only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford and Virginia
Away only: Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
UNC scholarship offers
Class of 2027
| Pos. | Stars | Name | Hgt | Wgt | Hometown | Rank * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PG | 5 | Nasir Anderson | 6–4 | 205 | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | 7 |
| PG | 5 | Beckham Black | 6–3 | 180 | Orlando, Fla. | 2 |
| CG | 5 | NaVorro Bowman Jr. | 6–3 | 180 | Sherman Oaks, Calif. | 12 |
| CG | 5 | Adan Diggs | 6–5 | 180 | Goodyear, Ariz. | 4 |
| W | 5 | Jordan Page | 6–5 | 205 | Raleigh | 11 |
| SF | 5 | Demarcus Henry | 6–7 | 190 | Chandler, Ariz. | 3 |
| SF | 4 | Asa Montgomery | 6–7 | 195 | Powder Springs, Ga. | 27 |
| C | 5 | Paul Osaruyi | 6–10 | 220 | Scottsdale, Ariz. | 11 |
| C | 5 | Lewis Uvwo | 6–10 | 225 | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | 6 |
| PF | 5 | CJ Rosser | 6–10 | 195 | Orlando, Fla. | 1 |
| C | 5 | Darius Wabbington | 6–11 | 245 | Phoenix | 15 |
Class of 2028
| Pos. | Stars | Name | Hgt | Wgt | Hometown | Rank* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF | 5 | Colton Hiller | 6–6 | 210 | Coatesville, Pa. | 2 |
| C | 5 | Yann Kamagate | 7–0 | 230 | La Canada Flintridge, Calif. | 3 |
| CG | 5 | Brady Pettigrew | 6–3 | 185 | Bolingbrook, Ill. | 15 |
| SF | 5 | AJ Williams | 6–8 | 210 | McDonough, Ga. | 1 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
