Staff Hires Provide Glimpse of Malone's Vision - Today's Take

Inside Carolina senior reporter Greg Barnes on Michael Malone’s staff and how the recent hires have illuminated Malone’s vision of how his staff may work.

“What does a coach who’s had a tremendous amount of success at the NBA level but really hasn’t done it at the college level need in order to have success very early on? And the obvious answer is you have got to have somebody who is a dynamic recruiter who understands the underbelly of the recruiting game, has access to everybody, has all those relationships, and has done it for a long, long time. For Michael Malone, that’s Chuck Martin. He’s clearly one of the top recruiters in college basketball for a number of years. And say what you will about John Calipari, the man knows how to recruit. He understands that side of the game. So Martin is clearly a home run in that regard.

“Then you need somebody who can develop players, because it’s not just about landing the top guys. It’s about landing guys that have a lot of potential, who maybe aren’t rated as highly, but who you can coach up. That’s where player development comes in. So with Bryan Tibaldi coming in, they believe that he can fill that role. 

“Then it’s the Carolina tie and you need folks to serve as the bridge to the community, family and to help understand what Carolina basketball is about. That’s Sean May and Pat Sullivan. Sullivan has those NBA ties as well. May is a solid recruiter, works with the bigs and gives you a little bit of everything. 

“So it’s check, check, check so far for Malone on the necessary main components. What’s left is up to him and how he wants to fill out the last position on the staff and the remainder of the support staff. A fifth assistant will be announced sooner than later but that support staff remains to be seen. It’ll be fascinating to watch in the weeks and months ahead what Malone is looking for and how all of these hires assist him in what he’s trying to accomplish.”