Five Best Point Guards in UNC Basketball History
By Alex Zietlow
Dec 8, 2012 Chapel Hill, NC, USA. North Carolina Tar Heel cheerleaders cheer during the second half against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers at the Dean E. Smith Center. North Carolina won 78-55. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
The most crucial position in basketball? Point guard. Not only must they be inherent leaders and floor generals, point guards must be in charge of keeping every player on the floor involved in the game. And when the team needs them to contribute scoring, they are the most valuable players on the court.
The Tar Heels always have solid point guards, but when the exceptional ones emerge, they tend to orchestrate great seasons.
The only name most North Carolina fans recall from the 1957 national championship team is Lennie Rosenbluth, deservedly one of the UNC all-time greats. But even with a big man that over the course of his college career averaged 27.9 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game (in an era where teams typically scored 40-50 points per game), PG Tommy Kearns was invaluable to the team. He was named first-team All-ACC and second-team All-America in 1957, and led the Tar Heels to defeat Wilt Chamberlain and the Kansas Jayhawks in the 1957 National Championship game.
In 2005, Sean May (Forward) was dubbed by many as the North Carolina’s best player. However, in the first game of the season, Raymond Felton had to sit out against Santa Clara, and the later national championship team couldn’t get the job done without their floor leader.
In 2012, Kendall Marshall and the Heels had the talent to win a national championship. However, in the round of 32 against 8-seed Creighton, Marshall broke his hand in the final minutes of the game after North Carolina had essentially already secured the victory. Although the Heels squeaked by 13-seed Ohio in the sweet sixteen that year, they couldn’t beat the Kansas Jayhawks in the elite eight without their leader.
It is very difficult, nearly impossible, for a basketball team to be successful without a strong starting point guard, and North Carolina has been blessed with some of the best in the college game.
Continue onto the next slide to find the top-5 North Carolina point guards of all-time, and see whether Marcus Paige has a shot of being added to the list of the all-time greats.