{"id":79683,"date":"2026-04-09T14:16:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79683"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:16:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:16:01","slug":"michael-malone-sets-stage-for-new-duke-unc-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79683","title":{"rendered":"Michael Malone Sets Stage for New Duke-UNC Era"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Malone Sets Stage for New Duke-UNC Era<\/h1>\n
UNC’s new head coach had words for the Blue Devils.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

The Duke basketball program is in a much more stable spot than its arch-rival, North Carolina, right now.<\/p>\n

In the last four seasons under head coach Jon Scheyer, the\u00a0Blue Devils<\/u><\/a>\u00a0have won three ACC Tournament titles, made three straight Elite Eights, and earned a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons.<\/p>\n

As for the Tar Heels, they have been bounced from March Madness in the Round of 64 in each of the past two seasons, and only made it to the second weekend or further twice in five seasons with Hubert Davis at the helm. UNC fired Davis after being eliminated by 11-seed VCU in the Round of 64 this past season.<\/p>\n

North Carolina’s head coaching search got off to a rocky start, as the program was blown off by Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd and Michigan’s Dusty May. Then, in a bit of a shocking move, UNC hired former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone to a lucrative contract.<\/p>\n

Michael Malone Had Success at NBA Level<\/h2>\n

Malone spent 10 seasons as the head coach of the Nuggets, compiling a 510-394 record in the regular season, a 44-36 record in the playoffs, and bringing Denver its first NBA Championship in franchise history in 2023.<\/p>\n

North Carolina proved it was going all in on Malone, making him the second-highest paid head coach in the nation with a six-year, $50 million contract. There have been few examples of veteran NBA coaches making the transition to college, leaving tons of intrigue in the North Carolina program for years to come.<\/p>\n

Malone Ready To Bring UNC Back to Prominence<\/h2>\n

It has already been mentioned the success\u00a0Duke<\/u><\/a>\u00a0has had over the past several seasons in relation to UNC. Additionally, the Blue Devils are 6-3 against the Tar Heels over the last nine matchups of the rivalry.<\/p>\n

In Malone’s introductory press conference, he highlighted what Carolina fans can expect from the program going forward, and it looks like he’s chasing Duke down to become the ringleader of the ACC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love rivalries\u2026 I\u2019m excited to be apart of that rivalry\u2026 I know that Duke is a program down the road and they\u2019ve had success,”\u00a0Malone said.<\/u><\/a>\u00a0“But I didn\u2019t come here to be second best, I didn\u2019t come here to lose in the first round of the ACC Tournament. I came here to win and win at a big level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malone has some ground to cover before he equalizes the recent success of the\u00a0Blue Devils<\/u><\/a>, but the Tar Heels’ new hire undoubtedly will be a major headline heading into the rivalry next season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Malone Sets Stage for New Duke-UNC Era UNC’s new head coach had words for the Blue Devils. The Duke basketball program is in a much more stable spot than … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":79684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1742],"class_list":["post-79683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-michael-malone"],"yoast_head":"\nMichael Malone Sets Stage for New Duke-UNC Era - iSport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the last four seasons under head coach Jon Scheyer, the\u00a0Blue Devils\u00a0have won three ACC Tournament titles, made three straight Elite\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79683\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michael Malone Sets Stage for New Duke-UNC Era - 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