CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — To restore its men’s basketball program to the top of the college hoops hierarchy, North Carolina is putting its money where its mouth is.
On Tuesday, UNC signed former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone to a six-year, $50 million contract, making him the second-highest paid coach in college basketball, behind only Kansas’ Bill Self.
Per the terms of his contract, the 54-year-old will earn $7.5 million this season, his first in college since serving as an assistant at Manhattan in 2001.
“(With) his track record, he warrants that type of compensation,” incoming UNC athletic director Steve Newmark said. “We also believe this institution and where it sits in the basketball hierarchy should be paying for what we believe is elite.”
But Malone’s salary — which increases to $9 million by the final year of the deal — is far from the only outsized financial commitment it took to land the 2023 NBA champion.
Malone is eligible for cumulative annual bonuses totaling $1.475 million for various accomplishments and accolades, including NCAA Tournament performance and individual coaching awards. Among others, Malone will trigger a $100,000 bonus for winning the ACC regular-season title, and the same amount for winning the ACC tournament.
Perhaps most eye-catching are the additional finances UNC is committing to get Malone’s tenure off to a strong start. Per his contract, Malone will receive at least $6.75 million annually in revenue-sharing funds, which will go a long way toward building a winning roster. (North Carolina spent about $16 million on its roster last season, according to a source familiar with negotiations.) Multiple industry sources tell The Athletic that the expected band of competitive spending for next season is likely to be at least $10-12 million — meaning Malone’s revenue-sharing pot goes quite a long way.
“We need to provide him the resources that enable him to succeed,” Newmark said. “We fixate a lot on the economics — and I understand it, because it’s new and different in college sports — but it’s our obligation in the athletic department to equip coach Malone with what he needs to be able to succeed.”
Malone emerged as a prime candidate in recent days after top college options Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May removed themselves from the process.
Additionally, Malone will have a lucrative $4 million salary pool for his assistant coaches and staffers. According to multiple sources familiar with UNC’s search, Malone is likely to retain assistant coaches Sean May and Patrick Sullivan — both former Tar Heel players — off Hubert Davis’ staff, giving him a strong base of Chapel Hill connections.
That salary pool is one of the largest in the country, and gives Malone the ability to hire a high-caliber staff that can ease his transition to the college game.
Malone’s buyout also aligns with some of the top college coaches in the nation, beginning at $8 million if Malone takes another job before April 1, 2027, and decreasing by $1.5 million every subsequent year. However, if North Carolina terminates Malone’s contract before its completion, the school owes him 80 percent of the remaining money left on his deal — meaning the school is pot-committed to making its big swing work.
Industry sources said Malone was expected to be considered for multiple NBA vacancies in the coming weeks before accepting the UNC job.
“Coach Malone is well compensated,” Newmark added, “but if you look at where he has been compensated in the NBA, he’s taken this because he’s passionate about it.”
In many ways, Malone’s exorbitant deal mirrors the financial carrot UNC dangled to land six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick as its football coach in December 2024.
But given UNC basketball’s pedigree, and Malone’s much more recent track record of success, there’s reason to believe the Tar Heels’ increased investment could immediately pay dividends in restoring them to the sport’s elite tier.