Michael Malone is being paid handsomely to become the new head basketball coach at North Carolina.
The Tar Heels officially announced Malone’s hire on Tuesday, confirming him as Hubert Davis’ successor at the school. Brian Murphy of WRAL obtained details on the new coach’s contract, which comes out to six years and $50 million.
Malone immediately becomes one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball. In fact, his deal is the exact same one Dan Hurley signed with UConn in 2024 amid interest from the Los Angeles Lakers. It means Malone will make just over $8 million annually, behind only Bill Self of Kansas in terms of average annual value.
That is a hefty sum of money for someone who has not coached at the college level before. The Tar Heels are putting an immense amount of faith in Malone by paying him as one of the sport’s elite coaches sight unseen. Malone was successful at the NBA level, but the college game will certainly bring added challenges that were not present at the professional level.
It certainly works out nicely for Malone. He gets a massive payday and he gets to spend more time around his family by moving to North Carolina.
