Honored North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players explained

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill men's basketball program honors fifty-one former players by hanging their jerseys in the rafters of the Dean E. Smith Center, the home to the men's basketball team on the university's campus. Of these, eight are both honored and retired. However, only seven jersey numbers are retired, as honoree Jack Cobb played before jersey numbers were the norm, meaning he had no number to retire. Justin Jackson and Joel Berry are the most recent players to be honored, following the 2016–17 season. Jackson qualified by being named the ACC Player of the Year and a first-team All-American. Berry was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2017 Final Four.[1] [2]

Criteria

North Carolina requires that players must be recognized for excellence for their performance during the regular season, in post-season play, or in the Olympics. Specifically, a player's jersey qualifies for honoring if he receives one or more of the following five awards: first- or second-team All-America on one of the major All-American teams that qualify a player for a consensus All-American designation, an ACC Player of the Year, the Most Valuable Player of a National Championship-winning team (as voted by coaches and teammates), the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player of a Final Four team, or a gold medal in basketball at the Olympics.[3]

Additionally, a player can also achieve the even greater honor of having his jersey (along with his uniform number) permanently retired by the University of North Carolina. To attain jersey retirement, a Tar Heel must win one or more of the following six national player of the year awards: Associated Press, National Association of Basketball Coaches, Sporting News, John R. Wooden Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy, or the Naismith College Player of the Year. The (now defunct) Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year award formerly served as a seventh option. The most recent player to merit bestowal of this honor is Tyler Hansbrough, who won all six of the national player of the year awards in his 2007–08 season.[4]

Honored players

Players whose numbers are retired are shown with a blue background.[5]

No.NameYearsCriteria met - NCCartwright Carmichael1921–24First-team All-America -style="background:#99BADD;" NCJack Cobb1923–26National Player of the Year -style="background:#99BADD;" 20George Glamack1938–41National Player of the Year, First-team All-America - 8Jim Jordan1944–46Second-team All-America - 13John "Hook" Dillon1945–48First-team All-America -style="background:#99BADD;" 10Lennie Rosenbluth1954–57National Player of the Year, First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year - 35Pete Brennan1955–58First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year - 40Tommy Kearns1955–58Second-team All-America - 12Lee Shaffer1957–60First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year - 22York Larese1958–61Second-team All-America - 35Doug Moe1958–61First-team All-America - 11Larry Brown1960–63Olympic gold medal - 32Billy Cunningham1962–65First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year - 22Bob Lewis1964–67First-team All-America - 44Larry Miller1965–68First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year - 33Charlie Scott1967–70Olympic gold medal, First-team All-America - 31Bill Chamberlain1969–72Second-team All-America - 44Dennis Wuycik1969–72First-team All-America - 35Bob McAdoo1971–72First-team All-America - 34Bobby Jones1971–74First-team All-America - 21Mitch Kupchak1972–76First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, Olympic gold medal - 24Walter Davis1973–77Olympic gold medal - 45Tommy LaGarde1973–77Olympic gold medal, Second-team All-America - style="background:#99BADD;" 12Phil Ford1974–78National Player of the Year, First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, Olympic gold medal - 31Mike O'Koren1976–80First-team All-America - 30Al Wood1977–81Second-team All-America - style="background:#99BADD;" 52James Worthy1979–82National Player of the Year, First Team All-America, MVP of NCAA champions, NCAA Tournament MOP - 41Sam Perkins1980–84Olympic gold medal, First-team All-America - style="background:#99BADD;" 23Michael Jordan1981–84National Player of the Year, First Team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, Olympic gold medal - 42Brad Daugherty1982–86First-team All-America - 30Kenny Smith1983–87First-team All-America - 34J.R. Reid1986–89First-team All-America - 34George Lynch1989–93MVP of NCAA Champions - 00Eric Montross1990–94Second-team All-America - 21Donald Williams1991–95NCAA Tournament MOP - 42Jerry Stackhouse1993–95First-team All-America - 30Rasheed Wallace1993–95Second-team All-America - 15Vince Carter1995–98Second-team All-America, Olympic gold medal -style="background:#99BADD;" 33Antawn Jamison1995–98National Player of the Year, First Team All-America, ACC Player of the Year - 00Brendan Haywood1997–2001Second-team All-America - 40Joseph Forte1999–2001First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year - 2Raymond Felton2002–05MVP of NCAA Champions - 42Sean May2002–05First-team All-America, MVP of NCAA Champions, NCAA Tournament MOP - 32Rashad McCants2002–05Second-team All-America -style="background:#99BADD;" 50Tyler Hansbrough2005–09National Player of the Year, First Team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, MVP of NCAA Champions - 5Ty Lawson2006–09Second-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, MVP of NCAA Champions - 22Wayne Ellington2006–09NCAA Tournament MOP - 44Tyler Zeller2008–12Second-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year - 40Harrison Barnes2010–12Second-team All-America, Olympic gold medal - 5Marcus Paige2012–16Second-team All-America - 11Brice Johnson2012–16First-team All-America - 44Justin Jackson2014–17First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, MVP of NCAA Champions - 2Joel Berry2014–18NCAA Tournament MOP - 4R. J. Davis2020–presentFirst-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year -

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Johnson Earns First-Team All-America Honors. GoHeels.com. March 14, 2016. 2016-03-14.
  2. News: Brice Johnson's number 11 headed for Smith Center rafters. Andrew. Carter. News & Observer. March 14, 2016. 2016-03-14.
  3. Book: 2016-17 Carolina Basketball Media Guide. 2016. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill, NC. 100. 2017-01-30. PDF.
  4. News: Hansbrough Wins Wooden Award, Sweeping Major Individual Honors. 2017-04-20. GoHeels.com. Associated Press. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2008-04-12. Los Angeles.
  5. Book: 2016 . Carolina Basketball 2016-17 Fact & Records Book . 2017-04-20 . PDF . Chapel Hill, NC . 164–170 . GoHeels.com.