The University of North Carolina will hire longtime NBA coach Michael Malone as the Tar Heels’ new head basketball coach, according to multiple reports on Monday.
The decision to hire Malone comes almost two weeks after the program fired Hubert Davis, opening a highly-publicized coaching search that featured several prominent names.
UNC reportedly went after several of the premier coaches at the college basketball level, including Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, Michigan’s Dusty May, Alabama’s Nate Oats, Vanderbilt’s Mark Byington and Iowa’s Ben McCollum. But in the end, the program went with Malone — who has no college basketball head coaching experience.
That being said, Malone has a wealth of experience at the professional level. He spent 12 seasons as a head coach in the NBA, spending two years with the Sacramento Kings before taking a job with the Denver Nuggets in 2015. He has more than 500 NBA wins and led the Nuggets to an NBA championship title in 2022-23.
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Malone was also a “top name” in the New Orleans Pelicans‘ search for their next head coach, according to a report from Pete Nakos of On3 Sports.
Malone ultimately elected to go with the Tar Heels and embark on a new chapter in his coaching career.
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The Pelicans fired head coach Willie Green after a 2-10 start to the 2025-26 NBA season. New Orleans currently holds the No. 13 seed in the Western Conference with a 25-54 record under interim head coach James Borrego.
Malone’s daughter, Bridget Malone, plays volleyball for the University of North Carolina. The former NBA coach reportedly spent some time with the men’s basketball team while on visits to Chapel Hill this past season.