UNC Basketball: 10 recruits UNC fans wish the Tar Heels had signed

Cody Zeller

One Zeller wasn’t enough for North Carolina fans. And why would it be when the first one to come through the program was as good of a player and ambassador as Tyler Zeller?

The Carolina faithful were a ravenous bunch when it came to the recruitment of his younger brother, Cody, some nearly expecting that ‘Tyler 2.0’ would end up in Chapel Hill.

The recruiting pitch was simple: Come to North Carolina and play alongside your brother, get big-time minutes in a big-time conference and work your way to the NBA with a star-studded cast of Tar Heels including Harrison Barnes and John Henson.

Apparently, it wasn’t enough for the 5-star big man as he opted not to follow in his brother’s footsteps to UNC, and instead picked the Indiana Hoosiers. He committed to Indiana shortly into Tyler’s junior season at North Carolina, and the rest is history.

The eldest Zeller would become a dominant force for the Tar Heels, earning first team All-ACC honors in 2012, as well as ACC Player of the Year. He was a consensus second team All-American the same season, while helping the Tar Heels to 32 wins and an Elite 8 appearance.

All Cody went on to do was average better than 16 points and 7.3 rebounds per game over two seasons with the Hoosiers. He started all 72 games he played in, and shot better than 59 percent from the floor. His Hoosiers didn’t see quite the same level of success that his brother’s Tar Heels did, but they did win 56 games in his two collegiate seasons, as well as a Big 10 regular season title in 2013. They made the NCAA Tournament both seasons, but lost in the Sweet 16 in consecutive years.

Both went on to become first round NBA draft picks — Tyler 17th overall to the Dallas Mavericks, and Cody fourth to the Charlotte Bobcats — The older Zeller has hopped around the league a bit during his near-decade in the NBA, while Cody has remained with the Charlotte organization through the first six seasons of his career.