Social media reactions to UNC hiring Michael Malone

After a couple of weeks of excruciating patience, the North Carolina Tar Heels have their new head coach. Former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone is bringing his talents to Chapel Hill, which was an unexpected hire by many. His name started getting brought up near the end of UNC’s coaching search, but nobody really knew how much there was behind that. Now he is the guy that will try his best to return the Heels to the elite ranks in college basketball, and the immediate reviews are pretty mixed.

First, let it be known that former UNC players who have spent time in the NBA really like this move. Theo Pinson and Ty Lawson were two Tar Heels that sounded off immediately via X.

Tyler Hansbrough was one of the first Tar Heels to mention Malone before the school ultimately hired him. He told Field of 68 that he felt like the former Nuggets coach could get some momentum in the coaching search.

After the hire happened, Hansbrough discussed how pumped he was about the hire, saying that he felt like it was the best remaining decision.

On the ACC Basketball Podcast, Joel Berry asked Danny Green about the hire, and Green feels like bringing in a NBA guy that knows how to develop players is huge. He also pointed out that Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was drafted 41st overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, and Malone had a sizable role in developing one of the best players in the NBA.

Finally, Seth Trimble sounded off on Instagram with his approval of the Michael Malone hire.

Outside of the Carolina alumni bubble, things are way more mixed in terms of whether or not this was a good move. In the Field of 68 video that was recorded after Malone was hired, Jeff Goodman pushed back on Hansbrough stating that former NBA guys have not had a good track record in the college ranks. But if that is the case, why did anybody want current Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan so badly? Bomani Jones is one of those people, and he expressed his confusion on The Right Time.

Jones’ reaction signaled what it feels like a lot of fans were going through, which is confusion. Throughout the entire search, we heard a handful of specific names that…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/social-media-reactions-unc-hiring-150000497.html

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Publish date : 2026-04-07 15:00:00

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