Rank ‘Em: Top 5 UNC basketball players in the Roy Williams Era
#4 Danny Green – 145 games played (123 wins), 9.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 1.1 BLK, 85% FTs, 38% 3PT
Green was a starter on 2009 National Championship team and the only player ever to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 100 blocks, and 100 steals for the Tar Heels. His career was very
unlike that of Barnes, as he was not a highly regarded recruit coming in and almost transferred after two seasons for the Heels. The final two seasons at UNC are what put him at #4 on this list.
He more than doubled his offensive output from his sophomore to junior year, improved his 3-point percentage from 30% as a sophomore to 42% as a senior and become a defensive presence for Coach Williams. Green was never a guy you would expect or need to go off for 25 for the Tar Heels to win, but he was capable of it and was a great “big game player” in college. That has obviously translated to his professional career as demonstrated in the NBA finals last season. Green went from a bench warmer in Cleveland, to a D-League player with the Spurs to setting records for three-point shooting in the Finals last season.
Green is not only one of my favorite Tar Heels ever, but one of my favorite basketball players currently in the NBA. He’s a guy with no hype around him anywhere he’s gone, but he’s always proved people wrong and played better than he was “supposed to” I guess is how I’ll phrase that. By his third year in college he was one of the players to look out for at UNC and the same can be said for the NBA. The Cavaliers had him right out of college and the biggest thing people remember him for is dancing with Lebron on the sidelines.
Now “King James” remembers him as the guy who broke Ray Allen’s record for three’s in the finals last year. It’s guys like Danny Green I wish young players would latch on to and want to be like, because his hard work and positive attitude is what has gotten him where he’s at today.
You didn’t think I would do a section on Danny Green and not show that video, did you? On to number three!