[NCAAB] Michael Malone hired as next coach of UNC

[Tetsujin]

UNC to hire ex-NBA coach Michael Malone as HC, sources say

North Carolina intends to hire former longtime NBA coach Michael Malone as the school's next basketball coach, sources told ESPN.

www.espn.com

Surprised he didn’t hold out for a NBA gig but watching him coach young guys should be fun.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Very nice. I said that would be the logical choice rather than Donovan and reassured some UNC fans over the weekend that he wasn't "just Jokic" by pointing to the season he got fired and how hot the Kings were before Boogie's illness.

I like this for them. Maybe for Veesaar too if he stays.

 

[Tetsujin]

Very nice. I said that would be the logical choice rather than Donovan and reassured some UNC fans over the weekend that he wasn't "just Jokic" by pointing to the season he got fired and how hot the Kings were before Boogie's illness.

I like this for them. Maybe for Veesaar too if he stays.

The one concern I’d have is that Mike Malone’s never really hit the recruiting trail before like Billy Donovan has but that’s not really a huge concern when you’re the school Michael freaking Jordan went to.

Oh to be a fly on the wall during the athletic program meetings with Michael Malone and Belichick in them

 

[pdxKingsFan]

The one concern I’d have is that Mike Malone’s never really hit the recruiting trail before like Billy Donovan has but that’s not really a huge concern when you’re the school Michael freaking Jordan went to.

Oh to be a fly on the wall during the athletic program meetings with Michael Malone and Belichick in them

NIL has kind of made blue blood status meaningless I think we're seeing that with some of the B1G and SEC teams that are historically around 10-25 becoming top programs. I really am unsure how much weight "MJ's school" carries with Gen Z and Alpha. Too much recency bias towards some of the other schools I think.

One of the better parts of this hire is they don't have to waste money on a buyout and can pump that $4m plus right into NIL.

 

[Spike]

Very nice. I said that would be the logical choice rather than Donovan and reassured some UNC fans over the weekend that he wasn't "just Jokic" by pointing to the season he got fired and how hot the Kings were before Boogie's illness.

I like this for them. Maybe for Veesaar too if he stays.

I've always thought that Malone was a hell of a coach. He's consistently elevated the level of play of his players, and college is more about building than maintaining nowadays - the really good players are gone in a year or two. I think recruiting might actually go well for him because he can always search for a specific type of player and get him pretty quickly, as opposed to the NBA where roster construction takes a little more time. As far as "recency bias" goes, it wasn't that long ago that the Nuggets were hoisting the trophy, so he has that going for him.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

NIL has kind of made blue blood status meaningless I think we're seeing that with some of the B1G and SEC teams that are historically around 10-25 becoming top programs. I really am unsure how much weight "MJ's school" carries with Gen Z and Alpha. Too much recency bias towards some of the other schools I think.

NIL has changed things a lot, but I'd say that in general it's to the detriment of the mid-majors more than the Blue Bloods.

College is a very different beast (for example, recruiting is such a major factor) so I suppose we will see whether Malone makes a graceful transition or not, but it seems like the Venn diagram of good college coaches and good NBA coaches does not overlap a whole lot.

I wouldn't even want to judge where Malone is at until at least two years in, since he's already a step behind in recruitment for this cycle. Yes, I would assume that UNC has a "GM" position that at least offers some measure of continuity to recruits, but right now there are presumably zero kids that have an established relationship with Malone so it will be hard to recruit "his" program from the jump. I'd expect a lot of mercenaries - high-talent, high-$$-ask, questionable fit guys - for at least the first season.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

NIL has changed things a lot, but I'd say that in general it's to the detriment of the mid-majors more than the Blue Bloods.

Blue Bloods are always going to be top 25 programs (ok, LOL UCLA). The thing NIL is rapidly changing is that football money is coming in and giving a lot of schools where basketball was nice to have in the offseason into major players on the recruiting trail. You are right it is costing mid-majors as this leads to a ton of money floating around to poach students who don't leave for the Association but show growth potential. But it also means the SEC and B1G are going to throw tons of money around and compete with "the school recruits itself" programs if they don't have a top tier coach.

And the ACC is now in the weakest spot of all the Power Conferences. I thought Yormark should have really pushed to get Duke and UNC into his super basketball conference at all costs but looking at the revenue splits brought up in the Tommy Lloyd saga it seems that even "basketball schools" are seeing 4x the money in football so naturally being SEC doormats in all but basketball is probably going to be preferable to those schools.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Blue Bloods are always going to be top 25 programs (ok, LOL UCLA).

Now, now. I would assume that you consider Arizona to be a Blue Blood (I do!) but comparing Arizona's Final Four record to UCLA's over the last 20 years does not come out good for Arizona. In fact, unless you pick a very specific time period (i.e. 1996-2005 or 2026-2026) I don't think it's possible to make Arizona look better than UCLA, at least in that regard.

UCLA has obviously not had the recent decades of success that say Duke or Kansas or Kentucky or UNC have, particularly in respect to grabbing the top freshman NBA prospects, but they're kind of unfairly being held to a standard that they set in the '60s and '70s that nobody can actually stand up to.

As an interesting exercise, here are the number of Final Four appearances in the last quarter of a century, minimum 2 (2002-2026):
UConn - 7
Kansas - 6
UNC - 6
Duke - 5
Michigan State - 5
Florida - 4
Kentucky - 4
UCLA - 4
Villanova - 4
Louisville - 3
Michigan - 3
Syracuse - 3
Auburn - 2
Butler - 2
Gonzaga - 2
Houston - 2
Illinois - 2
Ohio State - 2
Wisconsin - 2

If we're going to LOL at any "Blue Blood" program over the last quarter of a century I think it should be obvious it is Indiana. Now there's a once high-and-mighty basketball program that has indeed fallen.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Now, now. I would assume that you consider Arizona to be a Blue Blood (I do!) but comparing Arizona's Final Four record to UCLA's over the last 20 years does not come out good for Arizona. In fact, unless you pick a very specific time period (i.e. 1996-2005 or 2026-2026) I don't think it's possible to make Arizona look better than UCLA, at least in that regard.

UCLA has obviously not had the recent decades of success that say Duke or Kansas or Kentucky or UNC have, particularly in respect to grabbing the top freshman NBA prospects, but they're kind of unfairly being held to a standard that they set in the '60s and '70s that nobody can actually stand up to.

As an interesting exercise, here are the number of Final Four appearances in the last quarter of a century, minimum 2 (2002-2026):
UConn - 7
Kansas - 6
UNC - 6
Duke - 5
Michigan State - 5
Florida - 4
Kentucky - 4
UCLA - 4
Villanova - 4
Louisville - 3
Michigan - 3
Syracuse - 3
Auburn - 2
Butler - 2
Gonzaga - 2
Houston - 2
Illinois - 2
Ohio State - 2
Wisconsin - 2

If we're going to LOL at any "Blue Blood" program over the last quarter of a century I think it should be obvious it is Indiana. Now there's a once high-and-mighty basketball program that has indeed fallen.

Arizona is apparently not a blue blood. I have been told that over the years and reluctantly come to accept that we are in tier 1a.

But I do consider Arizona to be the class of the West since the late 80s. FF appearances are just part of the story vs. regular season conference championships, conference tourney championships, and winning percentage. UCLA is a blue blood on the back of championships and John Wooden and I have no issue with them.

I think the main thing is UCLA really hasn't had a great coach in years. I don't know why. I don't think it is a good thing that they fell off (football too). It certainly contributed to the death of the PAC which I will always love.

 

[Warhawk]

UNC to hire ex-NBA coach Michael Malone as HC, sources say

North Carolina intends to hire former longtime NBA coach Michael Malone as the school's next basketball coach, sources told ESPN.

www.espn.com

Surprised he didn’t hold out for a NBA gig but watching him coach young guys should be fun.

His daughter is a volleyball player at UNC. Might have had a bit of an influence on this decision?

Meet Michael Malone's Daughter, A UNC Volleyball Player

UNC's hiring of former NBA head coach Michael Malone shocked the sports world on Monday afternoon, but those familiar with the ex-Denver Nuggets leader might not be too surprised. North Carolina was linked to several high-profile college coaches, including Michigan's Dusty May, Arizona's Tommy ...

sports.yahoo.com

 

[kingsboi]

the TV gig didn't last very long I see