UNC Basketball: Second “All-Roy” Team

Mar 15, 2012; Greensboro, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams and forward Jackson Simmons (21) and guard Kendall Marshall (5) react during practice before the second round of the 2012 NCAA men

Over the next three days, Keeping It Heel will reveal its First, Second and Third “All-Roy” Teams for Carolina Basketball. “All-Roy” teams are modeled after the All-American and All-ACC teams, but they are made up of only players from Roy Williams’s 11 season at UNC. Keeping It Heel selected the 15 best players from Roy Williams tenure and put them on three teams. The teams will be revealed over the course of this week on KeepingItHeel.com. Made sure you give your opinion on our “All-Roy” teams in the comments and on Facebook and Twitter!

The second team is a mix of “should have been on first team” and “should have been on third team” types. Before you scold me for stating the obvious, its really true with this group of second team members. You could make a good argument for Kendall Marshall on third team, or any of Wanye Ellington/Harrison Barnes/Rashad McCants taking Tyler Zeller’s spot on the first team. Here is the second All-Roy team.

Second Team

Guard: Kendall Marshall

Career Stats: 73 games played, 44.6 FG%, 69.3 FT%, 7.2 points, 8.0 assists, 1.1 steals, 7.0 career win shares
Awards: 2011-2012 First in the NCAA in Assists (351), Second in Career Assist Percentage in NCAA (43.2), 2012 Bob Cousy Award Winner
Accomplishments: Two years at Carolina, 2011 ACC Regular Season Champions

Kendall Marshall was so good for the Tar Heels, but he was only good for such a short period of time. Marshall took over for Larry Drew II in his freshman season, and took off after that. He had some success but then got hurt in the 2012 NCAA tournament and took off for the NBA draft just a couple months later. Marshall still was one of the most talented passers to ever play at Carolina.

Guard: Wayne Ellington

Career Stats: 115 games played, 46.3 FG%, 80.9 FT%, 14.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 39.7 3P%, 13.5 career win shares
Awards: 2008-09 NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player
Accomplishments: Three year starter, 2009 National Champion

I was really really close to putting either Ellington or McCants in the first All-Roy team. Ellington and McCants were both talented three point shooters who as their careers progressed learned more and more skills. Ellington peaked in March 2008-09, earning the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament that year. He is deserving of a second team All-Roy spot, and possibly a first team selection.

Guard/Forward: Rashad McCants

Career Stats: 98 games played, 48.6 FG%, 72.1 FT%, 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 14.8 career win shares
Awards: 2003-2004 Highest 3-point field goal percentage (.408)
Accomplishments: Three year starter, 2005 National Champion

A second look at McCants’s stats were better than I originally remembered. 17.6 points and 14.8 career win shares is pretty darn good for a three year starter, and he would probably be the sixth man on the first team.

Forward: Harrison Barnes

Career Stats: 75 games played, 43.0 FG%, 16.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 34.9 3P%
Awards: 2012 First Team All-ACC, 2011 ACC Rookie of the Year
Accomplishments: Two year starter, 2011 ACC Regular Season Champions

Forward: John Henson

Career Stats: 109 games played, 49.7 FG%, 48.4 FT%, 10.3 points, 8.1 boards, 2.5 blocks, 10.8 career win shares
Awards: Second in the ACC in rebounds 2011-12 (348), 2012 First Team All-ACC, Two Time ACC Defensive Player of the Year
Accomplishments: Three year starter, 2011 ACC Regular Season Champions

Both Barnes and Henson are having good NBA careers, but didn’t have quite enough awards and accomplishments to push them into first team territory. Both played in the same “era” and on the team that should have won the National Championship in 2012 but didn’t. Stilman White did not have quite enough in the tank to carry the team over Kansas. These two are pretty secure as second team All-Roy members.