CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WPTF) – A number of news outlets are reporting that UNC is expected to hire former Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone to replace Hubert Davis as head basketball coach.
ESPN was first to report the development, and a number of other sources have also confirmed the expected announcement.
The move comes after several other high-profile coaches removed the name from contention, including Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd and Alabama Coach Nate Oats. Michigan’s Dusty May also said he was not interested in a new job. Current Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan, who led Florida to two championships, had also been mentioned.
Malone was the head coach of the Denver Nugges from 2015 to 2025, where he won the 2023 NBA Championship. He served as the head coach of the Sacremento Kings from 2013 to 2014. He also was an assistant coach for several other NBA teams.
He has never been a head coach on the college level, but had been an assistant coach at Oakland University, Providence College and Manhattan University for several years before joining the NBA in 2001 as an assistant with the New York Knicks.
The school has been searching to replace Hubert Davis, after he was fired shortly after the Heels first round exit from the NCAA tournament. Davis had coached the heels for five years.
This marks the first time someone not previously associated with the program, as a coach and or player has been hired for job since Frank McGuire in the 1950s.