By R.L. Bynum
GREENSBORO — Michael Malone reached the next stage of his transition from coaching NBA players to coaching college players this week when the players on his first North Carolina team began classes.
“The school started [Monday],” Malone said. “I was in the NBA for 25 years, and now I’m checking on classes. So, it’s a completely different opportunity, but one that I’m embracing and excited about, and we have a lot of work to do.”
Speaking to the media after a First Horizon Coliseum press conference Wednesday to announce the Dec. 15 game there against N.C. State, Malone said it’s been a whirlwind of transitions, but he’s finally happy to have his roster set.
“We’re excited about that,” Malone said of his roster. “We think we have a really good mix of returning players, some young freshmen coming in, as well as some transfer portal players, as well as some players from overseas, and when we identify what a Tar Heel should be, I think a lot of those guys fit into that. And I’m excited to get to work.”
The final piece of the roster puzzle was in place when freshman center Sayon Keita arrived in Chapel Hill on Saturday, two days before classes.
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“I’m just happy that as of Saturday night, everybody on that roster was in Chapel Hill,” Malone said. “Monday morning, everybody was in class, and so that’s a great way to build into the fall and get ready for formal practice [the] third week of September.”
Malone said that Keita and junior center Alexandros Samodurov are eligible to play when the season begins.
“They’re both clear. They’re in class. They’re in workouts, and I think everything is a go,” Malone said.
Building that roster meant starting almost from scratch. Malone was hired the same day the transfer portal opened, and he walked into a coaches’ room full of unfamiliar names before he had time to learn the landscape.
“I think when you consider the situation, the day I was hired was the day the portal opened, and when you consider when I walked into a room, and there’s 100 names on the board of which I know none of them, I think we’ve been able to put together a pretty good team, a competitive team. But we have so much work to do,” Malone said.
Only five players returned from last season’s team, three of them on scholarship, meaning Malone brought in 11 new players who had to learn each other, and him, in a matter of weeks.
He addressed the group directly about that challenge Sunday night before classes began and talked about that daunting transition.
“In today’s modern era of college basketball, how do you build a team? How do you build chemistry? How do you build camaraderie? And you have to do it in a very quick fashion,” Malone said. “And as we went through the workouts and we sweated together, I thought we were bonding, and that’s really important.”
Malone said that getting the players to buy into the system and become connected is just as important.
“That’s something you don’t just want to cross off a to-do list,” Malone said. “You have to work on team every single day.”
The adjustment from coaching NBA veterans to teenagers still developing required a reset for Malone.
“The first weekend I was out recruiting, I had to just rub my eyes a little bit and remind myself that I’m not coaching Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon. I’m not looking at those players,” he said. “These are 16-, 17-year-old young men who have so much room to grow and potential to grow. And once I did that, even with our own players on campus, just teaching them, the best coaches are teachers, right?”
Malone said he learned from his father, Brendan Malone, a longtime NBA assistant coach, to help him make that transition.
“He taught me that many years ago. So, it’s my obligation as a coach to realize who my student is, and how do I teach them, and teach the why and the laws of learning, all those things to help them understand and assimilate everything we’re throwing at them, because it can be a lot when you come into a new program,” Malone said
Recruiting itself has consumed a great deal of Malone’s time and was something he didn’t have to deal with during his NBA coaching career.
“In the NBA, it’s basketball. In college, a lot of times the last thing is basketball, and the recruiting is the lifeblood of any program,” Malone said. “So you spend so much time trying to go out there and put yourself in a position where you can get the best players in the country to come to a school like North Carolina.”
Malone has aggressively pursued the best players in the world, going all over the United States to see players, and the recruiting trail also took him to Portugal, Spain, Turkey, France and Mexico.
“I don’t shy away from that work. I do know when I walk into a gym with this on my chest,” Malone said, pointing to the UNC logo on his three-quarter zip, “that resonates, and I take great pride in that.”
Malone said he’s leaned on a staff with deep Carolina ties, from former players who won championships in Chapel Hill to longtime associates he brought with him from the NBA.
His coaching staff includes former UNC players who were on Hubert Davis’ staff and won national championships, Pat Sullivan and Sean May, and he has added another national champion in Deon Thompson, with former player Brandon Robinson on the support staff.
“And then, obviously, it was important for me to bring in some of my people, the guys that I’ve gotten to know. Chuck Martin, my first hire, somebody I’ve known for almost 30 years, and Chuck has been invaluable as my associate head coach in everything we’ve done since we got the job,” said Malone, who also hired former NBA assistant Bryan Tibaldi.
He completed his staff by hiring former Gonzaga assistant coach Jorge Sanz.
“I wanted somebody different from what I already had, and Jorge’s international experience, being from Spain, doing a hell of a job recruiting for Mark Few, a lot of the international players that he brought out to Gonzaga, that was Jorge and his ability to recruit,” Malone said.
Walking onto Roy Williams Court for the first time carried its own weight, Malone said, one tied to his childhood as the son of a Dean Smith admirer in New York. It isn’t lost on him that he’ll be occupying a seat on the bench previously filled by Hall of Famers Dean Smith and Roy Williams, as well as Bill Guthridge, Hubert Davis and Frank McGuire.
“If I was going to leave the NBA, I was only going to come to a program where, one, I felt I could win a championship, multiple championships, compete every year — that’s the goal of Carolina. And, two, that has this incredible tradition of excellence,” Malone said. “My father was a high school coach in New York City. He was always a big Dean Smith fan, and so, like most sons, I became a Dean Smith fan. I became a Carolina fan.”
Last fall, when he visited Chapel Hill to see his daughter’s volleyball matches, he “never in a million years” expected to be UNC’s head coach.
“It was never the goal,” he said. “It was never a desire. It’s funny how things happen, but when I walk out of that tunnel, every time I look up and I see the banners, and I see the players, I consider myself really fortunate to be coaching at the University of North Carolina.”
Malone said fans coming to watch his first team play at the Smith Center should expect a group defined by effort and selflessness above all else.
“My hope is that we’re hard-working,” he said. “We’re a team that leaves it out there every single night. That we exhibit toughness, both mentally and physically, and we also play with an unselfish mindset. We make plays. Now we don’t just play with each other; we play for each other.”
Malone said he wants to instill in his players the intangibles of playing hard, tough, together and unselfishly, traits that he says will lead to bigger and better things.
Asked about the nonconference schedule that includes N.C. State, Illinois, Kentucky and Arkansas, Malone made clear he wasn’t looking to ease into his first season.
“I think it’s a really nice mix in terms of the non-conference,” Malone said. “I’m not afraid to play people. We’ll play the best teams. I’m looking forward to scheduling those types of games because we want to put our best foot forward, and we want to compete against the best and give our fans something they can truly get excited about.”
| 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 |
| Sophomore | 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 | |
| Junior | Alexandros Samodurov | C | 6–11 | 212 | |
| 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 |
Non-conference schedule
| Date | Month/day | Opponent/event (final ranks) |
|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |
| 9 | 7 p.m. Friday | vs. USC in Greensboro |
| 18 | Sunday | vs. Indiana in Indianapolis |
| 27 | Tuesday | vs. Charlotte |
| November | Regular season | |
| 2 | Monday | vs. Western Carolina |
| 6 | Friday | vs. Wofford |
| 10 | Tuesday | vs. Wyoming |
| 13 | Friday | vs. Georgia |
| 20 | Friday | vs. Marshall |
| 23 | Monday | vs. Monmouth |
| 27 | Friday | Dick Vitale Invitational 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 | Tobacco Road Classic vs. N.C. State in Greensboro |
| 19 | 2:30 Saturday, CBS | CBS Sports Classic vs. Kentucky in New York |
| 21 | Monday | vs. The Citadel |
| January | ||
| 30 | Saturday | Nashville Hoops Showdown vs. No. 5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn. |
ACC opponents
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
Don’t play: Clemson
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