The lights of the Dean E. Smith Center glowed soft blue and white as Michael Malone stepped to the podium today for the first team as Carolina's head coach. Chapel Hill’s faithful packed the stands, many still blinking at the news that the NBA champion coach who once led the Denver Nuggets to glory was now a Tar Heel.
Malone, 54, in a crisp navy blue suit, grinned like a man who had just won the lottery he never thought he’d buy a ticket for. "Carolina is one of the most historic programs in college basketball,” he began, voice steady, “and I am honored to be the head coach of the Tar Heels.”
He admitted the courtship hadn’t been easy. “Every time I said ‘No,’ I was regretting that. I was like, ‘I think I’m making a mistake.’” His daughter Bridget, a UNC volleyball player, had been relentless. “She wanted me here,” he said, smiling. That family pull, plus late-night texts from legends like Antawn Jamison and Harrison Barnes, tipped the scales.
“I know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Malone said. “I’m not only taking this job—I’m attacking this job.” No soft landing. No rebuilding on cruise control. “I didn’t come here to be second best. I didn’t come here to lose in the first round of the ACC Tournament. That’s how I’m wired. That’s in my DNA.”
Today was the first step in a hire that seems to be pretty well received among the "Carolina family". At numerous different points in today's presser, whether it was Malone himself, AD Bubba Cunningham, or incoming AD Steve Newmark, they made it a point to mention that while Michael Malone is not Carolina family, they are doing everything they can to respect the past, but also usher in the future.
Michael Malone will be a coach that brings an intensity and structure that Carolina has lacked for a little while now. The fact that he not only has the amount of NBA experience that he does, but has a very recent NBA title, should prove that he can make this thing happen in Chapel Hill.
Malone made it a point to stress that his first priority will be talking to current Tar Heels that are in the transfer portal already, such as Derek Dixon, and then building from there.
It's a officially a fresh new chapter in Chapel Hill, and if voices who know Malone best are any indicator, this is going to be a smash hit.