Isaiah Denis felt he was dealt a bad hand.
The University of North Carolina men’s basketball sophomore guard joined the Tar Heels a four-star guard rated No. 53 in his class by 247 Sports. But he had a bad hand — literally. He had dislocated his finger his senior season at Davidson Day High School, and just “two or three weeks” into UNC summer workouts, he broke it again. The latter injury held him out for much of his first-ever collegiate preseason.
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“So it was really hard trying to solidify a rotation spot,” Denis said Thursday afternoon, “especially as a freshman trying to come in to earn your minutes.”
As a result, Denis played 3.4 minutes per game across 10 appearances. After UNC fired former coach Hubert Davis following a 24-9 season that ended with a first-round NCAA Tournament exit, Denis announced his intention to enter the transfer portal on April 5. He wasn’t the only one. Another player who represented the Tar Heels in their first news conference with reporters ahead of the 2026-27 campaign, Jaydon Young, did the same before reversing course, too.
Because while Denis didn’t have an opportunity to show it on the court last season, when Michael Malone was hired as UNC’s coach on April 7, he kept a few members of Davis’ staff around — and looked to them for guidance on which players he should keep around, too. Denis was one of those players, so the former NBA coach didn’t mess around.
“Him knowing I had a good relationship with (former NBA superstar point guard) Chris Paul,” Denis said, “he reached out to Chris Paul, like, ‘Yo, I need you to tell Isaiah to get out of the transfer portal.’”
That seemingly is a common refrain among players as UNC opened practice with Malone on Tuesday. He’s intense, yes. But there’s also what Young described as “a belief” that the Tar Heels can be good. It’s a largely new group, as North Carolina brought in 11 new players for this season. But the three returnees who spoke to media on Thursday noticed a difference, and a bit of an NBA feel to practices run by the former NBA champion coach with the Denver Nuggets.
“Honestly, the energy level on the very first day was kind of eye-opening,” Young said, “just to see the passion that he brought to it.”
There’s some structural differences in the practices, with both pre- and post-practice shooting work being implemented. But the “intensity,” Denis said, is the biggest thing that players have noticed in the first few days. That’s an adjustment for some — senior forward and Seaforth High School graduate Jarin Stevenson said he’s more quiet and reserved, but he’s been making progress trying to find that fire as he enters more of a leadership role in the UNC frontcourt. But Denis said Malone doesn’t expect players to be perfect as a result. Simply applying the effort that Malone expects out of his practices is enough to show “that you’re ready to work.”
It’s early, but Stevenson said that it seems like Malone could have the Tar Heels playing faster this season. Young said that’s something UNC tried to do a season ago, but it had a negative impact on the team’s rebounding. But this season, Young said the Tar Heels have “the guys, the athletes” to do it and that are willing to push. But a lot of early focus has been on the defensive side. Assistant coach Pat Sullivan has worked with Malone to ensure defensive principles and rotations are up to par.
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UNC will soon have an opportunity to show the early returns on the court, opening the preseason on Oct. 9 against Southern Cal in Greensboro. There’s seemingly little decided as far as roles. And players like Denis and Young aren’t returning to Chapel Hill after logging much playing time, either. Young, too, only logged 7.5 minutes per game off the bench for the Tar Heels, though appearing in 31 games with four starts. But even a player like Denis, who is still yet to prove himself at this level, feels he’s here for a reason.
Malone has coached some of the world’s best players in his career, like NBA legend LeBron James as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers in addition to 2025-26 all-star Jamal Murray and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on his 2023 NBA title Nuggets squad. But Denis is a big fan of one player in particular, far less known: Former VCU and Nuggets guard Bones Hyland.
“He was a electric player for them,” Denis said of watching Hyland with the Nuggets. “Every time he came in the game, the crowd was hyped.”
Denis said he doesn’t necessarily play like Hyland, as the 6-foot-2 now-Minnesota Timberwolves guard has been mostly a microwave scorer in his career. The sophomore Denis is a 6-foot-5 guard. Some might call him a combo guard, he said, but Malone has him playing the point guard. But no matter the role, Denis connected with the idea of entering a game and making an immediate impact.
So when Malone was hired, that struck Denis — not James, not Murray, not Jokic … Man, Denis thought, he really coached Bones Hyland.
When Denis and his mother met with Malone, he told his now-coach about his admiration for Hyland. Malone thought that was interesting: The way Denis carried himself and played reminded Malone of Hyland.
Over the spring, Denis remembered working out and Malone would come down and watch. He remembered.
“What up, ‘Bones?’” Malone said. That, Denis said, made his day.
“I knew that if he could help Bones be the player he was in Denver,” Denis said. “I feel like he could do so much more with me, and probably the same.”
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This story was originally published September 24, 2026 at 5:19 PM.