UNC basketball coach Michael Malone describes recruiting mindset, goals for Tar Heels

If you’re looking for UNC basketball coach Michael Malone, you’re unlikely to find him at Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill. 

In the 4 ½ months since Malone was hired as coach of the Tar Heels, UNC has filled out its roster and coaching staff for the 2026-27 season. With two months until a preseason exhibition game against Indiana in Indianapolis, Malone isn’t relaxing as he tries to get the program back to its standards. 

“I have attacked this. I didn’t come here to hang out,” Malone said during an appearance on the “Inside College Basketball Now” podcast with CBS Sports reporter Jon Rothstein.

“I don’t golf, I work. I’ve been in the gym. We’ve been working hard trying to get this program back to where all of Tar Heel nation wants it to be.” 

In the 16-minute episode, which was released Aug. 17, Malone discusses why he took the job, putting together a roster and coaching staff, recruiting and goals for the Tar Heels. 

As Michael Malone made his way around the world on the recruiting trail, associate head coach Chuck Martin reminded Malone that Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic aren’t in those gyms. 

“I’ve had to train my eyes,” said Malone, who spent 25 years in the NBA, winning a championship with Murray, Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in 2023.

Adjusting his eyes, Malone added, meant realizing “I had to take these players for who they are in this moment, and evaluate them on that, while also having the ability to look forward and help them.” 

As of Aug. 18, UNC has offered 13 recruits in the 2027 class, according to 247Sports. There are four players in the 2028 class with an offer from the Tar Heels, according to the site.

After keeping together the 17th-ranked recruiting class in 2026, which includes Maximo Adams, Malone is determined to get the Tar Heels back into the upper echelon of high school recruiting. 

“My whole mindset is: this is North Carolina, we’re going to get the best players in the country,” Malone said.  

“We’re not gonna settle, we’re not gonna take a backseat to anybody. We’re gonna go out and get the best players. And if we feel that we can get a high school player that can come in here and make an impact right away, we’re gonna get that player. That’s my mindset.” 

After becoming the first coach to be hired from outside of the UNC basketball family since Frank McGuire in 1952, Malone noted the tradition that preceded him and one that he hopes to carry on in Chapel Hill. 

“I follow a tremendous lineage of Carolina coaches and Hubert Davis, who was here before me, did an outstanding job as well,” Malone said. 

“I’m just trying to build on that and add to that, and make sure that we go out there this year and compete in a way that all the Carolina fans … they can be happy and proud of the team they see performing every night out on the court.” 

Asked about his goals for the Tar Heels, Malone started with two priorities as UNC prepares for a new era. 

“This may sound corny, but it’s something that I truly believe in. I told our players this the day I got the job and I reminded them (Sunday) during our team meeting. Goal No. 1 is not to win a championship, because every team says that,” Malone said. 

“If you’re serious about that, your first goal is always going to be: we have to find a way to get better every day. That might be in a conditioning, weight room, player development session. That might be in a practice (or) in a shootaround, film session, whatever it may be. We have to find a way as a program to get a win every day and get better. If you do that, and that’s gonna be shown in your every-day actions, then you have a chance come NCAA Tournament time to be a team that can compete and maybe get to a Final Four.” 

That every-day mindset leads into goal No. 2 for Malone, which centers around the Tar Heels buying into a “style of play” and “identity” that includes playing hard, playing with toughness and playing together. 

“Those are things that I think resonate with people. You can be proud of a team when they do those things,” Malone said. 

“That’s been my goal when I took over the Sacramento Kings as a head coach. That was my goal in year one when I took over the Denver Nuggets almost 12 years ago. And that’s my goal this year going into year one, sitting in that seat that Dean Smith sat in that Roy Williams sat in, Bill Guthridge .. Hubert Davis. That’s something I do not take lightly. We’re committed to working as hard as we can to go out there and have the best season possible, while building team and being a team that all the fans can be proud of, both on and off the court.” 

Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels athletics for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding UNC? Send them to rbaxley@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC basketball coach Michael Malone describes recruiting mindset, goals for Tar Heels