CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina assistant coach Marcus Paige is leaving the program to join fellow former Tar Heel Wes Miller’s new staff at Charlotte, sources have confirmed.
The 2025–26 season marked Paige’s third on staff at his alma mater following a seven-year professional career. He joined the UNC staff ahead of the 2023–24 season as director of team and player development before moving into an assistant coaching role over the past two seasons.
Sources close to the UNC basketball program told Inside Carolina that Paige’s departure from Chapel Hill wasn’t a surprise, as it’s something those within the program knew he’d been contemplating for some time.
UNC administrators this week voiced their desire to keep him in Chapel Hill, sources confirmed. Paige responded by professing his love for Carolina, but explained that his goal is to grow as a coach and to do that he needed to have a bigger role and gain different experiences elsewhere.
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The Marion, Iowa native played for the Tar Heels from 2012–16 and ranks 11th in program history in scoring (1,844 points) while holding the school record for three-pointers (229).
Paige made 34 of 35 starts as a freshman in 2012–13 — an experience that later helped him relate to and guide freshman Derek Dixon this past season.
“I’ve been on him all year about becoming a leader and using his leadership voice,” Paige said in February. “Now that he’s a starter and has taken on a bigger role, that’s become more important, and I’ve seen him do it better.”
Dixon spoke to Paige’s coaching earlier this season: “Just the similarities between us… he went back after the NC State game and looked at his freshman year numbers, and they were almost the exact same as mine. So that gave me a lot of confidence, just knowing he was able to accomplish all those things even with his freshman year not shooting the ball the best — which I’m not doing right now. He’s just been on me to stay confident and keep going.”
Paige, whose jersey hangs in the Smith Center rafters, earned First-Team All-ACC and Second-Team All-American honors as a sophomore after averaging 17.5 points and 4.2 assists.
His double-clutch three-pointer with 4.7 seconds remaining in the 2016 national championship against Villanova remains one of the most iconic shots in Final Four history.
In UNC’s 85–84 overtime win at NC State on Feb. 26, 2014, Paige scored a career-high 35 points, including the game-winning layup with 0.9 seconds remaining.
