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Thamel: UNC hiring Mike Malone

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Cats192

Heisman
Apr 22, 2011
14,863
17,703
93
On a good note, everyone turned down UNC. On a bad note, everyone turned down UNC.

2 years ago, the narrative was "If you get rid of Cal, you won't get a coach. Coaches don't care about Kentucky. They don't want to deal with the crazy fans." We whiffed on our first 2 or 3 choices before settling for Mark Pope.

UNC is another blue blood. They reportedly got officially turned down by May, Lloyd, Brad Stevens, Donovan, Byington, McCollum and even Scott Drew. Oats and Otzelberger publicly said they wouldn't take the job amid speculation.

And so, it's not a "Kentucky" issue. It's a Blue blood issue. Whrereas before most coaches would leave to come for the brand--that's no longer the case.

But that's still a problem. We've spent years saying we should have waited on Donovan. We should have gone after Oats or Otzelberger. Maybe we can steal Golden. I even thought maybe McCollum would be good if those guys didn't work out.

Now, we're going to have to start much further down the list. And that's not because Kentucky sucks or the fans suck. It's just the reality of CBB in 2026.
 
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40MinutesofPureHell

40MinutesofPureHell

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Mar 14, 2026
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The Space Happy Cat said:
Not such a ridiculous termination. I thought so too initially but then the dirt came out. Guys like Murray and Joker aren't drama guys and they had given up on him; tells ya all you need to know. Plus he was butting heads with the GM...who coincidentally also lost his job at the same time in a full clean sweep.

Nuggets are just as good without Malone and Mal is having the best year of his career with him gone, just sayin
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I was in Denver at the time the Nuggs won it all. Even amongst Nuggets fans, Malone was never seen as some sort of "coaching genius." More of a caretaker coach with a ton of talent. And to your point, his personality rubbed A LOT of people the wrong way, from his own players to his bosses, etc. take it fwiw.
 
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MichaelGray

MichaelGray

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Jan 13, 2026
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LineSkiCat14 said:
Source? I dont buy this at all. There's no reason Billy Donovan couldn't have taken this job and either finish out a final week of the NBA, or have the Chicago front office part ways with him then. There was no schedule or timing conflict.

Billy Donovan didn't want the job, because the job was beneath him. It's that simple. There was no need to wait for the Chicago Bulls season to end in 10 days from now lol.
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Donovan is waiting for the Kentucky job to open up, his wife is looking for horse farms right now 🤣🤣
 
M

mc140

All-Conference
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8,805
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113
Rainmaker said:
This is far from a home run hire. He was probably outside of the initial top 10 candidates. It’s a panic hire because the portal opens tomorrow and they have to have a coach by then.
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This is short sighted thinking. If you have to burn a portal year to get the right coach, you burn the year. D1 basketball is JUCO now. You can turn things around in a year. There is no ong term building
 
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Cats192

Heisman
Apr 22, 2011
14,863
17,703
93
Laparkafan said:
He’s better than pope
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Maybe, maybe not.

I think this is a pretty big risk. It could be amazing. It could be a disaster. The Nuggets players gave up on him. His personality may be an issue.

He's never been a HC in college. He hasn't had to be a recruiter. I'm sure they'll get a GM and someone else will focus on roster building. But he'll have to convince the kids they want to play for him.

People argue that college mirrors the NBA. But it's a whole lot easier to run the offense you want with a roster full of pros that consistently make open shots. It's also a whole lot easier to win big when you have Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
 
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Cats192

Heisman
Apr 22, 2011
14,863
17,703
93
LineSkiCat14 said:
Source? I dont buy this at all. There's no reason Billy Donovan couldn't have taken this job and either finish out a final week of the NBA, or have the Chicago front office part ways with him then. There was no schedule or timing conflict.

Billy Donovan didn't want the job, because the job was beneath him. It's that simple. There was no need to wait for the Chicago Bulls season to end in 10 days from now lol.
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If Donovan wanted either the Kentucky job or the UNC job, he would have it.

His agent could have told an AD "He's coming. Just get the contract ready." And they could have negotiated terms ahead of time. The second the bulls season ends, he signs. And that's that.

On 2 occasions now, he chose NOT to tell the AD that he's coming. He made his choice. There's none of this "He might would have taken it." If he wasn't committed enough to promise he's coming, then he wasn't coming.
 
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LineSkiCat14

LineSkiCat14

Heisman
Aug 5, 2015
38,862
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MichaelGray said:
Donovan is waiting for the Kentucky job to open up, his wife is looking for horse farms right now 🤣🤣
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He aint coming here either.. but at least a large contingency of UK fans know that.

Were gonna be in the same mess that UNC was just in. What we *should* be doing as a program is doing our due diligence now on the current head coaches and really trying to figure out who the next "Dusty May" or "Sean McVey" is.. those younger coaches who havent had a chance at the head job/big school just yet. Try your best to find that guy. Its a crap shoot. Id say its probably 30/70 that youre actually going to get it right.. but if you DO get it right, then you have your coach for the next 20 years. And you dont have to start out with a $12,000,000/year salary or large buyouts either.
 
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W

WeWant9_rivals

Heisman
Dec 18, 2013
6,882
18,254
113
Cats192 said:
On a good note, everyone turned down UNC. On a bad note, everyone turned down UNC.

2 years ago, the narrative was "If you get rid of Cal, you won't get a coach. Coaches don't care about Kentucky. They don't want to deal with the crazy fans." We whiffed on our first 2 or 3 choices before settling for Mark Pope.

UNC is another blue blood. They reportedly got officially turned down by May, Lloyd, Brad Stevens, Donovan, Byington, McCollum and even Scott Drew. Oats and Otzelberger publicly said they wouldn't take the job amid speculation.

And so, it's not a "Kentucky" issue. It's a Blue blood issue. Whrereas before most coaches would leave to come for the brand--that's no longer the case.

But that's still a problem. We've spent years saying we should have waited on Donovan. We should have gone after Oats or Otzelberger. Maybe we can steal Golden. I even thought maybe McCollum would be good if those guys didn't work out.

Now, we're going to have to start much further down the list. And that's not because Kentucky sucks or the fans suck. It's just the reality of CBB in 2026.
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There was a part of me that thought Unc was going go out there and pick any coach, but this just shows me how much the landscape has changed in college bball. Players no longer see blue bloods as something special, and now coaches seem to be looking at it the same way; or at the very least every decent program has the money and resources to keep a good coach happy/content.

The next AD will need be very savvy. You almost need a list that is constantly being updated on possible coaches around the world.
 
BBNinSCar

BBNinSCar

All-Conference
Apr 23, 2013
1,373
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Cue the Tar Heel fans scrambling to justify this hire. Malone is a bad choice to start at the UNC level of college basketball coaching. Plus, he’s a total asshat that divides a locker room.
This will be end as badly as the Belichick hiring.
 
C

Cats192

Heisman
Apr 22, 2011
14,863
17,703
93
IowaCityLit said:
Ben McCollum turned down even interviewing with UNC after they contacted him per Norlander.

Was Malone their 10th choice?
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Somewhere around there, for sure.

I thought that if Pope got fired next year, we'd start off with guys like Oats, Otzelberger, Lloyd, etc. I figured if we got down the list Ben McCollum would be a good 2nd tier option. Byington as well. But no one is leaving for a blue blood job right now.

These schools are committing a ton of money and resources to basketball. And coaches are happy with their life in their current location.
 
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Hitman206

Hitman206

Senior
Jul 11, 2009
442
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Cats192 said:
On a good note, everyone turned down UNC. On a bad note, everyone turned down UNC.

2 years ago, the narrative was "If you get rid of Cal, you won't get a coach. Coaches don't care about Kentucky. They don't want to deal with the crazy fans." We whiffed on our first 2 or 3 choices before settling for Mark Pope.

UNC is another blue blood. They reportedly got officially turned down by May, Lloyd, Brad Stevens, Donovan, Byington, McCollum and even Scott Drew. Oats and Otzelberger publicly said they wouldn't take the job amid speculation.

And so, it's not a "Kentucky" issue. It's a Blue blood issue. Whrereas before most coaches would leave to come for the brand--that's no longer the case.

But that's still a problem. We've spent years saying we should have waited on Donovan. We should have gone after Oats or Otzelberger. Maybe we can steal Golden. I even thought maybe McCollum would be good if those guys didn't work out.

Now, we're going to have to start much further down the list. And that's not because Kentucky sucks or the fans suck. It's just the reality of CBB in 2026.
Click to expand...
Donovan would have went there had they waited.
 
M

mc140

All-Conference
May 29, 2001
8,805
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Either way, unless it is a complete disaster next year, you don't move on before you have someone you want to take it.
 
F

FilsonCat

All-Conference
Apr 5, 2007
3,327
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College athletes are becoming more and more like pros in a club league. Amateurism is gone at the p5 level. Those saying that this is a bad hire are trolling. It may or may not work out for a multitude of reasons, but it is not for a lack of swinging for the fences. Our entire coaching search was a blueprint for negligence by an athletic director. It was that bad.
 
MichaelGray

MichaelGray

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Jan 13, 2026
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40MinutesofPureHell said:
haha, I dig you Village Idiot. You are cool by me. :) To be completely honest with you, I couldn't care less about Arkansas. I am just a fan of Nolan and the way he coached the sport.
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I noticed on the previous page you said "we could get Rex Chapman" & that was confusing considering your username & avatar pic lol. Are you a Kentucky fan or not?
 
HeismanWinner

HeismanWinner

All-Conference
Sep 12, 2025
1,400
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Phil_The_Music2 said:
I don't respond to Richie but I would bet the farm that if UK hired a coach who had never been a head coach for college ball a day in his life, he would absolutely lose his sh#t.
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This is undeniably better than what we did two years ago. It’s not even close.

Oh, NBA Champion coach or guy who coached at Utah Valley and BYU with no tourney wins and is an awkward guy who hasn’t been able to recruit?
 
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LineSkiCat14

LineSkiCat14

Heisman
Aug 5, 2015
38,862
60,911
113
Cats192 said:
On a good note, everyone turned down UNC. On a bad note, everyone turned down UNC.

2 years ago, the narrative was "If you get rid of Cal, you won't get a coach. Coaches don't care about Kentucky. They don't want to deal with the crazy fans." We whiffed on our first 2 or 3 choices before settling for Mark Pope.

UNC is another blue blood. They reportedly got officially turned down by May, Lloyd, Brad Stevens, Donovan, Byington, McCollum and even Scott Drew. Oats and Otzelberger publicly said they wouldn't take the job amid speculation.

And so, it's not a "Kentucky" issue. It's a Blue blood issue. Whrereas before most coaches would leave to come for the brand--that's no longer the case.

But that's still a problem. We've spent years saying we should have waited on Donovan. We should have gone after Oats or Otzelberger. Maybe we can steal Golden. I even thought maybe McCollum would be good if those guys didn't work out.

Now, we're going to have to start much further down the list. And that's not because Kentucky sucks or the fans suck. It's just the reality of CBB in 2026.
Click to expand...

Great posts. I sort of thought UNC would be in a little bit better shape to land a top coach than UK, if I'm being honest. State with more money, school with more morey, NCAA backing, a more valuable brand.. But it seems it's a larger issue: coaches don't need the blue bloods anymore, and maybe they didn't for a lot longer than we realize.
 
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HeismanWinner

HeismanWinner

All-Conference
Sep 12, 2025
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kydmb99 said:
This makes me really nervous about our next coaching hire
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It should.

Right now, this is the best case scenario we have.

Iowa State’s coach, Iowa’s coach, and maybe Donovan which seems super unlikely to ever occur. Our program won’t hire an old coach.

Bruce Pearl is a POS so I hope that’s never an option.
 
Wunky

Wunky

Heisman
Jan 16, 2021
4,348
18,061
78
MegaBlue05 said:
We’ll see how this works. Guy wasn’t a bad pro coach.

And we should take notes. Because if this coming year ends up being Pope’s last, we are in the same boat as UNC.

Times have changed. Established guys with a Final Four on the resume at other P4 schools aren’t leaving that low pressure gig with stability for a fish bowl in which you are expected to win titles annually or else.
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The hyperbole from the national media won’t stop unless folks like you stop perpetuating it.

Kentucky fans don’t expect a title every year. They expect to be in contention for one. There are vast oceans of difference between the two.
 
1

#1 cat fan

Sophomore
May 7, 2009
169
163
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RunninRichie said:
Not sure, why the, "nobody wants to coach at a blueblood" guys are taking this as proof for being right. UNC just hired a guy who won an NBA title and 500 games in the NBA. College is usually seen as a step down from the pros. In both basketball and football. All anyone has to do, is look at college football to know that is BS. Jon Sumrall, Lane Kiffin, Kalen Deober left from playing in the title game, to Alabama. Kiffin was in the playoffs at Ole Miss, left for LSU, Sumrall had Tulane rolling, left for a failing Florida program.
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Well UNC has had 2 coach openings the past 5 seasons and look who they hired. Uk 2 years ago.
 
A

Anon1768287303

Freshman
Jan 13, 2026
52
66
18
MegaBlue05 said:
We’ll see how this works. Guy wasn’t a bad pro coach.

And we should take notes. Because if this coming year ends up being Pope’s last, we are in the same boat as UNC.

Times have changed. Established guys with a Final Four on the resume at other P4 schools aren’t leaving that low pressure gig with stability for a fish bowl in which you are expected to win titles annually or else.
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It's quite possible they are playing the angle of all his experience in the pro ranks. He probably has really good inside connections that may draw players to want to play in his system as a stepping stone.
There is a scenario where they may start getting recruiting classes on the level of Duke or Kentucky in the early Calipari years.
 
C

Cats4321

All-Conference
Nov 18, 2025
778
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93
You know people are going to use this as a reason to keep Pope another year, even if he fails again. The reality is plenty of coaches would still take this or the UNC job. You might not be able to just throw money at big named coaches now but there are still plenty of options.
 
B

Badabingbadaboom

All-Conference
Feb 27, 2006
903
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40MinutesofPureHell said:
Yep, agreed. I heard even Pope turned them down! :O He is quite happy where he is at....UK is his dream job! :) I am going to head over to their board to see what the general reaction to Malone is....I have to imagine that majority of their fanbase are something less than "INSANELY ENTHUSED" about this hire, lol.
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“Over the Moon” about a guy they never heard of would be accurate.
 
C

ChocoChicken

Sophomore
Apr 6, 2026
49
115
18
MegaBlue05 said:
We’ll see how this works. Guy wasn’t a bad pro coach.

And we should take notes. Because if this coming year ends up being Pope’s last, we are in the same boat as UNC.

Times have changed. Established guys with a Final Four on the resume at other P4 schools aren’t leaving that low pressure gig with stability for a fish bowl in which you are expected to win titles annually or else.
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The new AD has to have a contingency plan if CMP doesn’t work out. No jumping onto a boat without knowing where you plan on going. Ensure you put out some feelers for a few coaches and if the need comes up, hire one of those coaches.

Jumping in without a plan like Kentucky and UNC did was not a good way to get a good coach. Although UNC still managed to get an NBA championship winning coach. That isn’t something you should put your head down for.
 
LineSkiCat14

LineSkiCat14

Heisman
Aug 5, 2015
38,862
60,911
113
Kansas is in the same boat as Kentucky. They will have a lot of trouble when Self is gone. Lawrence and Kansas itself arent exactly a draw for top coaches. Its a poor state. Very little in-state/regional recruiting. Demanding fanbase. The two things they do have is an arena that gives them wins and an NCAA governing body that does the same.

That last part is or at least should be a factor for Duke, UNC and Kansas: you know youre going to get some protection and that youre going to get some inflated win totals every year. I believe Duke finished with 1.67x more free throw attempts than their opponent on the year.
 
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