Rank ‘Em: Top 5 UNC basketball players in the Roy Williams Era

#2 – Ty Lawson – Career Stats: 105 Games Played, 13.1 PPG, 5.8 APG, 1.8 SPG, 78% FTs, 40% 3PT

Lawson is easily the best pro that Williams has brought in as the head coach and had a stellar career in his three seasons. I was absolutely shocked when he fell to # 18 in the NBA draft, but due to concerns over his height and ankle injuries, he fell much further than he should have.

Players drafted ahead of him: Hasheem Thabeet, Jonny Flynn, Ricky Rubio, Jordan Hill, Gerald Henderson, Austin Daye, James Johnson, and Earl Clark.

After two successful seasons to start his college career, Lawson decided to come back for his junior year along with the trio of Hansbrough, Green, and Ellington which eventually ended in the last national championship for the Tar Heels in 2009.

Lawson did something that year that hadn’t been done by a Tar Heel point guard since 1978 by winning the ACC player of the Year award. To the Carolina faithful (at least me anyway), I was going to be surprised if it wasn’t Lawson. Hansbrough has the most decorated career of anyone in UNC history, but in that season of 2009, Lawson proved why he was the top player in the ACC.

He was also awarded the Bob Cousy award in that year to the nation’s best point guard. Two other Carolina point guards: Raymond Felton (2005) and Kendall Marshall (2012) have taken home that award since its debut in 2004.

What always stood out to me about Lawson on the floor was how fast he was with the ball in his hands. He is one of those players that I believe moves faster when he’s handling the ball than when he’s just running. He would dart up the floor to run the UNC fast break so fast the defenses didn’t even know what hit them. His decisiveness with the ball and ability to get it out quickly was second to none. If you wanted proof…

One player left… Hmm, I wonder who it could be??