Keeping the Ties While Moving Forward - Today's Take

Inside Carolina senior reporter Greg Barnes on the ties Michael Malone’s coaching hires have to the Carolina Family and the importance of maintaining those connections while moving the basketball program forward.

“We need to be honest about the situation and the program. In terms of the production on the court and in a lot of the aspects, the program had become stagnant. This has been one of the poorest stretches of basketball – over the last seven years – that Carolina has had in decades upon decades. I think it’s important to be clear about that. It’s not what Carolina basketball has traditionally been. And that’s why the change was made. Things needed to change.

“North Carolina needed to get back to being one of the elite programs, and ultimately, that’s the goal. Everybody wants to win. The reason Dean Smith was able to build the Carolina Family is because he won. Once you win and you establish that baseline, you’ve got a lot of freedom to do whatever it is you want, and that’s what Dean did. And because of that success on the court, he was able to build this incredible ecosystem of Carolina basketball that has spanned generations.

“So when a change was made, everyone wanted that family aspect to continue, but the way to do that is to win and not just lean on the old days and old ways of doing things. This era is nothing like Smith or Roy Williams ever dealt with. So from that view, you bring in Michael Malone who understands the professional side of things and brings a fresh perspective, which was certainly needed for North Carolina basketball. 

“Those ties are incredibly important, but you have to prepare for the future, have to adapt and evolve and at the same time understand and appreciate what Carolina Basketball was. So with these staff hires, Malone has those ties built in and he’s reassured a lot of people behind the scenes that that is important to him. From that vantage point, I do think there’s been a lot of that concern that’s been relieved. Still a lot of work to go. He’s got to build all those relationships with the people who have been around the program for so long, and that takes time, but I certainly think it’s a good start, and he’s on the right path.”