Top 20 Tar Heels

by Derrick Clyburn

We are in the dog days of summer. The NBA Finals are over. We are a month away from NFL Training camps starting up. And College Basketball is far in the distant future.

My question during this down time in sports for many is: Who are Your Top 20 Tar Heel Basketball Players in the Last 50 Years?

Here is my list in no certain order:

Bob McAdoo, He is a one year transfer scoring machine that took Dean to the Final Four.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY		All-American
71-72	19.5	10.1		1972	1972	1972				1972

Bobby Jones, He was an all-around player, but better known as a defensive specialist.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY		All-American
71-74	16.1	10.3		1972	1972	1972				1974

 

Billy Cunningham, He was an awesome scorer and rebounder, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY		All-American
62-65	24.8	15.4						1965		1964, 65

 

Phil Ford, He was the General of the famous Four Corners.

Career	PPG	RPG		ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
74-78	18.7			1976, 77, 78	1975, 77	1977		1978	1978	1976, 77, 78

 

Walter Davis, His nickname was “Sweet D ‘‘, for that smooth jump shot. He will always be remembered for that great comeback against Dook. Down 8 points with 17 seconds left.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
73-77	15.6	5.6	3.4	1976, 77	1975, 77	1977

 

Al Wood, He also had a silky smooth jumper.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
77-81	16.0	4.9		1978, 79	1979, 81	1981

 

James Worthy, He had that patented Statue of Liberty Move finishing with a dunk or finger roll. He became “Big Game James” on the next level.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
79-82	14.1	7.4		1982	1981, 82	1981, 82	1982		1982	1982

 

 Sam Perkins, He was known as the “Big Smooth”. He was a smooth operator on the court.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
80-84	15.9	8.7		1982, 83, 84		1981, 82	1982			1982, 83, 84

 

Michael Jordan, Well, well, well! Dean taught team fundamental basketball. This helped Mike more than we will know. He had a chance to master is tongue-wagging skills here.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
81-84	17.7	5.0		1982, 83, 84	1982	1982	1982	1984	1984	1983, 84

 

Brad Daugherty, He was 7 foot, but didn’t dunk until he got to the NBA. LOL! He had that patented bank shot from 10-12 feet out.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
82-86	14.1	7.4		1983, 84, 85						1986

 

Tar Heels in the Top 20

Kenny Smith, He was known as the “The Jet”. I would have loved to have seen Kenny and that loaded 1984 Team, if he had never gotten hurt. Man!

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
83-87	12.9		6.0	1984, 85, 87						1987

 

  J.R. Reid, He dominated the post from day 1. I remember his license plate had the message “I Dunk 2”. He replaced a post man that didn’t dunk often. LOL!

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
86-89	16.2	7.5		1987, 88	1989					1989

 

Rick Fox, He hit that big shot against the overall #1 seed in the 1990 Oklahoma to advance to the Sweet 16.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
87-91	12.2	4.2	2.3	1988	1989, 91	1991

 

George Lynch, He was the heart & soul of that 1993 Championship Team.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
89-93	12.4	7.8		1993	1991	1991	1993

 

Rasheed Wallace, Wow, how he ran the floor and power dunked. That was a joy to watch. I wish he wasn’t hurt during the 1995 Final Four.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
93-95	13.1	7.4		1995	1994	1995				1995

 

Jerry Stackhouse, I still remember that reverse Dunk on Cherokee Parks in that double over-time game at Dook.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
93-95	15.7	6.6		1995	1994	1995			1995	1995

 

Antawn Jamison, He had such an ultra-quick release around the basket.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
95-98	19.0	9.9			1997, 98	1997, 98		1998	1998	1997, 98

 

Vince Carter, Vince had some of the most acrobatic dunks in Tar Heels history. I remember him dunking on Tim Duncan and the whole Wake Forest Team.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
95-98	12.0	4.5			1997, 98	1997, 98

 

Tyler Hansbrough, “Psycho T” was one of a kind. A human wrecking ball around the basket. He is the current all-time scoring leader for the Tar Heels, and he has all of the awards as well.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
2005-09	20.2	8.6		2007, 08, 09	2007, 08	2008, 09	2009	2008	2008	2007, 08, 09

 

Ty Lawson, He had a combination of speed, quickness and strength that set him apart.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
2006-09	13.1	2.9	5.8	2007, 08, 09	2007, 08	2008, 09	2009	2009		2009

 

Raymond Felton, He was athletic and strong point guard, who was a true floor general.

Career	PPG	RPG	APG	ACC Reg Sea	ACC Titles	Final Four	NCAA Titles	ACC POY	NCAA POY	All-American
2002-05	12.4	4.1	6.9	2005		2005	2005			2005

 

These players deserve to be acknowledged as well:

Hubert Davis, Eric Montross, Justin Jackson, Sean May, Rashad McCants, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, Marcus Paige, and Brice Johnson.

 

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