I'm curious if Malone/staff are thinking of going with a value play for point, letting Neo do most of the facilitating. It would be nice to add a guard who can get a bucket when needed. Not sure Mingo can do that, nor if he is a point. He's definitely not a value play.
It's worded a bit ambiguously. I'm assuming he wasn't the first person offered, but the ADs doing their diligence and interviewing/gauging interest from a lot of folks. He being the first they checked on.
For me, the big takeaway from that article is that Roy personally asked him to take the...
https://www.on3.com/teams/north-carolina-tar-heels/news/secret-meeting-convincing-michael-malone-to-become-a-tar-heel/
Apparently, he was the first person Newmark and Bubba approached about coaching. Told them no, repeatedly, told Sullivan no, and even told Roy no.