Michael Malone’s shocking decision to take the North Carolina Tar Heels head coach job may be partially explained by his daughter.
North Carolina caught the basketball world by surprise when they hired Malone on Tuesday as their new head coach. Several people were quick to point out that he has a family connection with the school: his daughter, Bridget, is a sophomore volleyball player for the Tar Heels.
Bridget Malone committed to North Carolina all the way back in 2023. Presumably, her father would have been quite familiar with the school’s athletics program from that process.
Malone almost certainly could have waited for the NBA offseason and pursued a job at that level, and he would have been a top candidate for every opening. The Tar Heels, however, seemingly offered him the opportunity to continue coaching basketball while also being close to his family.
Bennett Durando of the Denver Post noted that Malone even skipped an NBA Cup game with the Nuggets just to watch Bridget compete in the state tournament.
Happy for Michael Malone. His daughter Bridget is on the UNC volleyball team and he’s her biggest fan. He even skipped an NBA Cup game a couple years ago to see her play in the state tournament. Not that he’ll have a lot of free time with this job, but a cool landing spot for him
— Bennett Durando (@BennettDurando) April 6, 2026
The interest had to be mutual, of course, but the Tar Heels were evidently impressed enough by Malone’s resume to make him the hire. Much was made about the school going outside the “family” and hiring someone with no ties to the school, and on the surface, they did that. It turns out, however, there is at least some family connection there after all.
