Michael Malone has a chance at rare accomplishment with North Carolina

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Michael Malone will take over as the next head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels. Not on any of the national reports of possible candidates, Malone will bring a decade's worth of success in the NBA to one of the most premier jobs in college basketball. 

And even though it's impossible to guarantee Malone will be able to duplicate winning at the highest level in the NBA to the college game, he can elevate his personal resume and legacy to an historic level if he can deliver the Tar Heels what they are in search of: another national title. 

While a return to the NBA in the future is still possible for the 54-year-old Malone, he has an opportunity to join some elite company and create an incredibly exclusive group with only one current member first. 

Michael Malone has a chance to make history if he can lead North Carolina to a national title 

If Malone can lead the Tar Heels to the program's seventh national championship, he will join Larry Brown, ironically a UNC alum, as only the second coach to ever win both an NBA title and the NCAA Tournament as a head coach. 

Brown did so early in his coaching career with Kansas in 1988 and then capped off his legendary status by leading the Detroit Pistons to a championship in 2004. 

Michael Malone has already won big at the highest level 

To this point in Malone's career, he has 510 career wins to his credit from his time in the NBA, spanning a season-and-a-half with the Sacramento Kings and then 10 years with the Denver Nuggets. He led Denver to six playoff appearances and the 2023 NBA championship, marking the first title in franchise history. 

Now Malone, who has made regular appearances as part of ESPN's NBA coverage since being let go by the Nuggets towards the end of the 2024-25 season, will try to do the reverse of Brown and add winning in the Final Four to having already lifted the NBA's Larry O'Brien Trophy. 

But matching Brown and restoring order for one of college basketball's "blue blood" programs won't be easy. 

North Carolina has dipped below its standard in recent years 

The Tar Heels fell below the program's high standards during Hubert Davis' tenure, advancing beyond the first week of the NCAA Tournament only twice. North Carolina has also been on a steady decline since falling in the 2022 national championship game. The last national title for UNC came under Roy Williams in the spring of 2017. 

However, of all the college jobs, UNC basketball remains one of the best. And if North Carolina invests properly, there's no reason why Malone can't make the Tar Heels elite again and share a rare distinction with a legendary coach in the process.