UNC hires NBA championship-winning head coach after March Madness humiliation

In a bizarre, out-of-left-field decision, the University of North Carolina has announced the hiring of former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone to lead its men's basketball team, according to ESPN.

Malone had been out of a job after four straight losses in April 2025 that jeopardized their playoff spot.

He spent this past season at ESPN as a studio analyst for pregame and postgame shows in the NBA.

Malone is the first NBA head coach with no prior collegiate experience to take a head coaching job in the NCAA since former Knicks coach Mike Woodson got the Indiana job in 2021.

The North Carolina job opened after the school fired head coach Hubert Davis following an 11-over-6 upset in March Madness at the hands of VCU.

UNC was expected to hire any number of the top college coaches in the sport, but were rejected via contract extensions by the likes of Arizona's Tommy Lloyd, Florida's Todd Golden, Vanderbilt's Mark Byington and Alabama's Nate Oats.

Michigan's Dusty May and UConn's Dan Hurley both also verbally rejected the job when asked by various media outlets at this week's Final Four. According to CBS Sports' Matt Norlander, North Carolina was set to meet with Iowa's Ben McCollum, but he turned them down before it took place.

Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens rejected any rumors early in the hiring cycle. There was a strong suggestion that Chicago Bulls head coach and two-time NCAA champion Billy Donovan could have returned to the college level, but no decision would have been made until the end of the NBA season next week. 

One of Malone's two daughters, Bridget, is a sophomore playing on the Tar Heels' women's volleyball team.

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