North Carolina basketball rumors: Ben McCollum withdrew from coaching search before Michael Malone hire

With the news of the North Carolina basketball team hiring Michael Malone to be its next head coach, there is no doubt shock from the sports world, as more reporting is coming out in the fallout of the news. As many rumors surround the North Carolina basketball team, the latest news shows Ben McCollum being a candidate for the gig.

According to Matt Norlander, McCollum “turned down a chance to interview,” leading the Tar Heels to pivot to Malone, with the CBS Sports reporter saying that “things moved fast in the past 18 hours.” The Iowa Hawkeyes head coach “had contact” with the North Carolina basketball program with the hope to interview on Sunday, but McCollum “passed.”

“More on McCollum: He had contact w/ UNC last week as the search played out, per sources. UNC was hoping to meet with him in person Sunday for a proper interview, but he passed on that invitation to stay at Iowa. Malone’s candidacy picked up speed as others removed their names,” Norlander wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

While the Tar Heels had been linked to a ton of names like Michigan’s Dusty May, Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, Chicago Bulls’ Billy Donovan, and others, another name that Norlander mentioned was Baylor head coach Scott Drew.

“MORE, per sources: Baylor’s Scott Drew also engaged with North Carolina in recent days as the searched progressed, but ultimately did not choose to walk too far down that path. UNC did its diligence on a lot of notable college coaches; Malone was there for the taking,” Norlander wrote on X.

At any rate, the North Carolina basketball team has made their choice to lead the program in Malone, who doesn’t have any head coaching experience at the collegiate level, but certainly does so in the NBA, winning a title with the Denver Nuggets.

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