After UNC fired Hubert Davis as head men's basketball coach, it didn't take long for the program to find its next leader.
North Carolina landed longtime NBA boss Michael Malone, who won over 500 games across his 12 seasons in professional basketball. Malone had no prior collegiate head-coaching experience, but his roster-building ability was too much for the Tar Heels to pass up.
During a Tuesday interview with college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Malone revealed the approach to building his first UNC roster.
“My whole mindset is: this is North Carolina," Malone said via InsideCarolina's Spencer Haskell. "We’re going to get the best players in the country. We’re not going to settle. We’re not going to take a back seat to anybody, we’re going to go out and get the best players. I have one transfer portal in me now, going through that, learning about it. And I think going into next year’s portal, I’ll have a hell of a lot more information, I’ll be a lot more comfortable."
On paper, Malone's debut North Carolina roster should give Tar Heel Nation plenty of excitement heading into the 2026-27 college basketball season.
UNC returns three key players in Jaydon Young, Isaiah Denis and Jarin Stevenson, the last of whom is expected to start. North Carolina landed a solid, 3-man high school recruiting class in Maximo Adams, Kevin Thomas Jr. and Malloy Smith.
Malone's portal work highlights his first shot at collegiate recruiting. Malone landed Power Four transfers Matt Able, Neoklis Avdalas and Terrence Brown, all of whom are expected to start, plus a starting center in South Dakota 7-footer Cameron Fens. Going the international route, Malone also landed big men Sayon Keita and Alexandros Samodurov.
Can Malone's first roster deliver the Tar Heels a seventh NCAA Championship, one which they came extremely close to in 2022?
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Michael Malone reveals approach behind building first UNC roster