Former Nuggets coach Michael Malone is the surprising choice as North Carolina’s new head coach, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports.
North Carolina had been looking for a high-profile coach to take over the program after firing Hubert Davis. Final Four coaches Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May were reportedly high on the wish list but both opted to stay put at their respective universities. Bulls coach Billy Donovan was next on the wish list, according to The Athletic’s Brendan Marks, so the hiring of Malone came seemingly out of nowhere.
Malone, 54, is the all-time winningest coach in Denver history with a 471-327 career record and led the Nuggets to their only NBA championship in 2023. He has since spent time as an analyst and commentator for ESPN. Malone certainly would have been high on the list of many NBA teams looking for new coaches this offseason and beyond but instead Malone chose to take over an elite college program.
In his Sunday column, Marc Stein reported that the Bulls would like to retain Donovan, who received a multi-year extension after the Knicks were denied permission to talk to him about their head coaching vacancy last summer. Donovan reportedly wanted to wait until after the season concluded on Sunday to meet with the Tar Heels but North Carolina decided to pivot to Malone.
With the UNC off the table, Donovan could be more inclined to remain in his current job.
Whoa
WE FIRED AKME! I MIGHT START MY OWN CELEBRATION AT GRANT PARK!!!
Woooow; I guess Malone is tired of being done dirty in the league, but this feels really left field. I’ve always liked Malone. I hope he does well
This should be a bit better than Belichick but UNC may still struggle. Malone has a kid that goes there so that no doubt helped him decide.
wow… I would have put money on Donovan.. especially after the bulls cleared out the front office (which means he’s about to be unemployed) …. UNC musta not liked something Donavan said … has malone ever even recruited?