North Carolina reportedly hands Michael Malone 6-year, $50M deal, making him second-highest paid college basketball coach

The University of North Carolina got their man Tuesday, announcing the hiring of former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone as the school’s new men’s basketball coach. While Malone brings championship experience to the team, it cost UNC a pretty penny to bring in the long-time NBA coach.

Malone was reportedly given a six-year, $50 million deal to coach UNC. His reported $8.33 million annual average salary makes Malone the second-highest paid coach in men’s college basketball, behind only Kansas’ Bill Self.

Self reportedly made $8.8 million last season, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Michael Malone's reported average annual salary of $8.33 million would make him the second-highest paid coach in all of college basketball this season 🤯

(via @murphsturph, @USATODAY) pic.twitter.com/RbjyNCplyb

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 7, 2026

It’s a massive deal for any coach, especially one with no head-coaching experience in college. While Malone has been an assistant at three different universities, North Carolina will mark the first time he’s served in a head-coaching position at a college.

After stops at Oakland, Providence and Manhattan, Malone jumped to the NBA, where he served as an assistant for many years before finally getting his head-coaching opportunity with the Sacramento Kings ahead of the 2013-14 NBA season. He lasted a season-and-a-half with the franchise before he was fired.

Malone quickly landed on his feet with the Nuggets, where he coached the team to a .590 winning percentage over 10 seasons and won an NBA championship. It was Malone’s experience with the Nuggets that made him a desirable candidate for UNC.

North Carolina’s pedigree, combined with Malone’s contract, will put plenty of pressure on the new head coach to succeed immediately. After winning three NCAA tournament championships under legendary coach Roy Williams, UNC made the final in its first year under Hubert Davis before suffering premature defeats or missing the tournament entirely over the past four seasons.

It will be on Malone to figure out how to move past those failures and return UNC to a perennial championship contender. If he can’t manage that, UNC is going to be paying quite a bit of money for a head coach who’s just as effective as the much-cheaper coach he replaced.