THE APEX TIMES
CBS Sports’ Candid Coaches ranks North Carolina’s Michael Malone No. 3 among best high-major hires of 2026
The CBS Sports survey places Michael Malone behind Arizona State’s Randy Bennett and Cincinnati’s Jerrod Calhoun, highlighting how the latest coaching carousel is reshaping expectations across the high-major landscape.
North Carolina’s decision to hire Michael Malone is drawing immediate national attention, and not just because the Tar Heels went after a coach with NBA championship credentials. In a CBS Sports “Candid Coaches” ranking released this week, Malone was listed as the third-best high-major coaching hire of 2026, trailing two other marquee hires around the country.
CBS Sports framed the ranking as a comparison of “high-major” coaching additions for the coming college basketball cycle, using input from coaches. According to the report, Arizona State’s Randy Bennett was ranked No. 1, and Cincinnati’s Jerrod Calhoun was No. 2, with Malone at No. 3.
The “big splash” language in the report reflects how unusual the move is for a major college program to secure a coach with direct NBA success and championship experience. For North Carolina, Malone’s arrival carries an immediate message to recruits and supporters that the program intends to pursue modern, results-driven basketball regardless of the sport’s coaching norms.
Still, the ranking also underscores that the 2026 carousel has been unusually competitive among high-major programs. The same CBS Sports survey that praised Malone as one of the top three hires also suggested that at least two other programs made choices that peers judged even stronger, at least within this specific evaluation framework.
The practical impact of these kinds of rankings is mostly indirect, but it matters. In the early stages of a transition, coaching hires can influence roster planning, recruiting access, and how quickly a team’s offensive and defensive identity stabilizes. For North Carolina, the biggest question will be how swiftly Malone’s approach translates to the college game, where preparation time, roster continuity, and development are constant variables.
For Arizona State and Cincinnati, the report effectively elevates their hiring decisions into a separate tier of expectations. Even without tying the ranking to specific outcomes, a No. 1 or No. 2 placement can affect how quickly programs are perceived as ready to contend and how prominently they appear in conversations with prospective recruits.
What to watch next is not the ranking itself, but the operational follow-through. How each coaching staff integrates its philosophies, builds trust with players, and sets a competitive baseline early in the 2026-27 season will determine whether the survey’s optimism becomes a season-defining narrative or just another headline from a busy offseason.
Why It Matters
- High-major coaching hires can rapidly change program expectations, recruiting conversations, and internal roster planning.
- A national ranking can add early momentum for a new staff, but it still leaves open how quickly philosophies translate to college basketball.
- With multiple top-tier hires clustered together, the 2026-27 season could feature tighter margins among teams attempting to separate from the pack.
Key Facts
- CBS Sports’ “Candid Coaches” survey ranked North Carolina’s Michael Malone as the No. 3 best high-major coaching hire of 2026.
- The survey listed Arizona State’s Randy Bennett as No. 1 and Cincinnati’s Jerrod Calhoun as No. 2.
- The report described North Carolina’s hire of Michael Malone as a major splash of the 2026 college basketball coaching carousel.
- The article attributes the ranking to input from coaches around the country evaluating high-major coaching hires.