Covering Carolina athletics beyond men’s basketball and football, with dedicated reporting on women’s basketball and baseball, in addition to covering other sports that rarely draw media attention
Tar Heels fans have long known how to celebrate a win, a rivalry, and pretty much anything involving the color Carolina blue. Now, for the first time, they can toast to it with something that shows their school spirit via official spirits. UNC Athletics has teamed up with North Carolina-based Cape Fear Distillery to launch the Spirit of Carolina Collection, the university’s first officially licensed line of Tar Heels-branded spirits.
CHAPEL HILL — Of the 16 players on Michael Malone’s first UNC roster, only two scholarship guards remain from last season’s group: Isaiah Dennis and Jaden Young. The rest of the backcourt had to be built from scratch after the departures of Seth Trimble, Derek Dixon, Kyan Evans and Jonathan Powell. Malone didn’t waste time.
CHAPEL HILL — One of Michael Malone’s biggest early tasks was rebuilding a frontcourt gutted by the departures of Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar to the NBA. Months later, the first-year coach made clear he believes the group he assembled gives Carolina exactly the kind of size, length and versatility he wants to build around.
CHAPEL HILL — Michael Malone spent 25 years in the NBA, the last 12 as a head coach in Denver, working with players whose games he knew inside and out before they ever stepped on the floor for him. When he took over at North Carolina in April, he inherited a completely different job, one that started with a stack of names he didn’t recognize.
CHAPEL HILL — If there is a byword as North Carolina enters a women’s basketball season flush with talent and high expectations, it’s flexibility. Coach Courtney Banghart’s eighth Tar Heel team has plenty of lead guards after depending heavily last season on Elena Aarnisalo, who has returned to UCLA. Banghart said the shift reflects both a broader evolution in the sport and a specific need she identified when Aarnisalo carried much of the offensive burden down the stretch a year ago.
CHAPEL HILL — Michael Malone likes to call himself a “volleyball dad,” but the dynamics of that have changed dramatically from when he followed Bridget Malone’s freshman season with the Tar Heels. He might get recognized in the crowd because of his profile as an NBA coach who won a league title, but he could keep a low profile while watching his daughter’s matches.
CHAPEL HILL — Coach Michael Malone was known during his NBA coaching career for being direct with his players and applying tough love to make them better. Malone, about to start his first season as Carolina’s coach, said that will not change at the college level, but emphasized that it’s important to first let the players know that he loves them so that they know that any criticism is coming from a good place.
CHAPEL HILL — Cameron Fens spent the better part of August believing that he would finish his college basketball career in Chapel Hill. Now, with North Carolina’s season opener less than two months away, the 7–0 center still doesn’t know if he’ll be allowed to play in it. Fens, a graduate transfer from South Dakota, committed to Coach Michael Malone’s program on Aug. 8, filling what became North Carolina’s sixth transfer portal addition and 11th newcomer overall, seemingly completing the Tar Heels’ first roster under the first-year coach.
North Carolina navigates a trip to Paris, cross-country trips, and a loaded non-conference gauntlet in its women’s basketball schedule this season which was revealed in full on Wednesday. The Tar Heels, coming off a Sweet 16 appearance, have eight games against teams ranked in last season’s final Top 25.
The “Tar Heel Tribune Podcast,” with hosts Britt Whitmire and R.L. Bynum, gives Tar Heel Tribune readers a conversational companion to the site’s written coverage of Carolina athletics with interviews, opinions and insights.
Former UNC and Oregon standout Deja Kelly delivered the signature performance of her professional career and a championship. Kelly scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Charlotte Crown to an 81–76 comeback win over the Jacksonville Waves in the inaugural Upshot League championship game Saturday night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
Michael Malone’s first season in Chapel Hill will offer no shortage of measuring sticks before ACC play begins. From a neutral-site date with a likely top-five team to a home game against a Southern Conference bottom-dweller, the non-conference schedule includes opponents with a wide range of strength.
Michael Malone’s first UNC roster is finally official. His Tar Heels roster includes 11 newcomers and five returnees, led by Jarin Stevenson. Also back are Jaydon Young, Isaiah Denis (who goes from No. 5 to No. 2) and walk-ons Evan Smith and John Holbrook (who will wear No. 99).
Coach Michael Malone’s first North Carolina team will get early measuring sticks before ACC play begins, with a non-conference schedule that mixes exhibition tune-ups and high-profile showcase games. UNC released the entire men’s basketball non-conference schedule on Thursday, although most of it was already known. See the full non-conference schedule below the story.
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.”
