Antawn Jamison loves and wants to help the University of North Carolina. But he would have thought this was crazy in college: Him, teaching a class.
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Yet on Tuesday, the former University of North Carolina men’s basketball star and 16-year NBA veteran sat in front of room 33 students in UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carroll Hall as a visiting professor of the practice for sports communication.
He’d just finished another class of MEJO 206: Sports Communication, which he co-teaches with Livis Freeman, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media distinguished associate professor of sports communication. They had a special guest: fellow UNC visiting professor and all-time leading scorer Tyler Hansbrough.
Each of their legacies are already sealed in the form of retired jerseys at the Dean E. Smith Center. But he has five kids now, values education and wants to aid students with the connections he’s built. Ultimately, this is something he’s always wanted to do.
“Coach (Dean) Smith always said, ‘I don’t want you guys to donate any money or give back,’” Jamison recalled his former coach saying, “‘one thing I ask you to give back your time for the university, who was there for you. And anytime they need anything, please be there.’”
Because of that, Jamison said he wants to help UNC however he can. So when athletics director Steve Newmark called him for input earlier this year, he was eager.
Jamison was part of UNC’s search committee to find the next basketball coach this past spring, playing a pivotal role in the hiring process of Michael Malone. Jamison crossed over for 25 games with Malone, then an assistant under then-Cleveland Cavaliers coach and recent NBA champion New York Knicks coach Mike Brown, when he joined the Cavaliers for the end of the 2009-10 season.
Jamison said he had “nine or 10 head coaches and so many different assistant coaches” across his NBA career, but what stood out about Malone was his ability to connect with both the player at the end of the bench and the star, which at the time for the Cavaliers was non other than LeBron James. He worked in scouting and front-office roles with the Lakers and the Washington Wizards after his playing career, and nearly took an assistant general manager job with the Denver Nuggets when Malone was the coach.
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“I knew he was tired of doing that TV like I was tired of it,” said Jamison, who worked as an analyst in his post-playing career, too. “He didn’t want to put that makeup on and talk game. He wanted to be 10 toes on the court, talking basketball, running plays.”
Malone was already on Newmark’s radar. Though it was initially unclear if Malone would want to coach in the college game, Jamison said he felt it would be a good fit because of “the teaching aspect.” Jamison remembered watching Michigan prepare for the national title game — he was tired of not being in that position, the program he loves preparing for that game. And he knew Malone was the right guy.
He said that might have made him a little too eager.
“I’m calling Steve, ‘What’s going on?’” Jamison recalled. “‘You need me?’”
Jamison couldn’t sleep. But UNC eventually landed Malone and Jamison said he’s proud to be a part of it.
It’s seemingly just a coincidence that happened in lockstep with him returning to the classroom, too. Jamison played for the Tar Heels from 1995-98. His students didn’t watch his career. Hansbrough, who played at UNC from 2005-09, said that a student told him that Hansbrough was once on the student’s birthday cake … when he turned four. But Jamison can certainly share that the current coach is there in part because of him.
“Wait until we win a couple championships,” Jamison joked.
But the last several months had him thinking of his former coaches, Smith and his longtime assistant, Bill Guthridge. He’s doing what the people who once taught him always wanted.
“To know that I had a part in helping find an unbelievable coach who’s going to do great things here at Carolina,” Jamison said, “I only could think about how proud they would be of me being a part of that.”
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This story was originally published September 22, 2026 at 8:40 PM.