North Carolina is slated to compensate its new head coach, Michael Malone, with an average annual sum exceeding $8.3 million under a six-year agreement, sources verified to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, positioning him among the top five most generously remunerated mentors in the sport.
The Tar Heels formalized the appointment of the former Denver Nuggets strategist on Tuesday.
Malone, whose daughter competes in volleyball at UNC, received endorsement from a selection panel spearheaded by executive associate athletic director Steve Newmark and director of athletics Bubba Cunningham, as stated by the institution. The university’s board of trustees sanctioned the particulars of the engagement on Tuesday.
WRAL News in Raleigh initially disclosed Malone’s remuneration.
“[Malone] is an exceptional mentor who will implement a contemporary and structured methodology to guiding our men’s basketball program, which is essential within the present collegiate sports environment,” Newmark conveyed in the statement. “Carolina basketball is distinctive and remarkable — and we have enlisted a leader well-equipped to perpetuate our legacy of triumphs.”
Malone is scheduled to host an inaugural press briefing at Chapel Hill at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Malone is an NBA title holder from his tenure with the Nuggets and secured 510 victories in 12 seasons as a principal coach. He’s one of the most esteemed strategists in the NBA and has served for over ten months as an ESPN commentator. He is set to assume leadership of a Tar Heels squad that has been scouting for a successor to the head coaching position for nearly two weeks following the dismissal of Hubert Davis.
Malone has not mentored at the collegiate level since he was an associate coach at Manhattan in 2001. He additionally served as an aide at Providence from 1995 to 1998 and Oakland in 1994-95.
“Carolina is one of the most storied programs in college basketball, and I am privileged to serve as the leading coach of the Tar Heels,” Malone articulated in a statement. “It is modesty-inducing to succeed numerous luminaries in Chapel Hill. I know from the many Tar Heels in the NBA the unique essence of the Carolina Basketball fraternity, and I will exert maximum effort to uphold UNC’s heritage of victories while equipping our athletes for professional trajectories and post-basketball existence.”
Malone was the principal coach in Denver for a decade, accumulating a record of 471 wins against 327 losses during that period. He oversaw 904 contests as an NBA lead strategist, comprising two tenures with the Sacramento Kings.
“Michael has demonstrated his capability to construct robust, triumphant squads that can regularly contend in the playoffs and secure titles — and he knows how to enhance the performance of every individual on the court,” Cunningham remarked. “He comprehends the art of assembling player lists and mentoring NBA-level athletes — which is precisely the aspiration of our Tar Heels players. We are eager to greet Michael and his kin to Chapel Hill.”
UNC earlier had been associated with several prominent university mentors, including Michigan’s Dusty May, Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd and Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger. But after all three openly pledged to remain at their current schools, the Tar Heels shifted their focus to Malone, who guided the Nuggets to their sole NBA title in 2023. He was dismissed by Denver in the preceding April and became an ESPN commentator a month subsequent.
Davis was terminated by UNC on March 24, half a week subsequent to the Tar Heels forfeiting a 19-point advantage in their initial-stage NCAA championship defeat to VCU, the eleventh seed.