UNC Basketball: The 15 Tar Heels opposing fans hated most

Harrison Barnes

When a 5-star recruit picks North Carolina — or any other of a handful of top-notch programs — fans are going to have a certain amount of disdain regardless of who the player is or what he’s like. But when that player happens to be the top prospect in a given recruiting class, those feelings of disdain are likely to increase.

That was the case in 2010 when Harrison Barnes, a smart, respectful, well-spoken kid out of Ames, Iowa, chose the Tar Heels over a host of other big name programs — and the local schools that so badly desired his services — giving them the No. 1 prospect in an absolutely loaded recruiting class.

Barnes probably didn’t live up to the lofty and unfair expectations of some that were laid on him from the time he was a senior in high school. But make no mistake, Barnes had a terrific two-year run at North Carolina that saw his teams win 61-of-75 games — 73 of which he started — two ACC regular season titles and two appearances in the Regional Final.

Being the top player in the class, and certainly the most talked about, Barnes was an easy target any time he had a bad game. That definitely wasn’t the case, though, during a 92-87 overtime win against Clemson in the 2011 ACC Tournament semifinals.

Barnes set an ACC Tournament freshman scoring record when he poured in a career-high 40 points against the Tigers, knocking down 12-of-17 shots from the floor, and 6-of-8 from three-point range. He also hit 10-of-11 from the free throw line, grabbed eight rebounds and played a team-high 41 minutes.

In two seasons with the Tar Heels, Barnes averaged 16.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists. He hit nearly 35 percent of his three-point attempts, and 73.4 percent from the charity stripe. He was named first team All-ACC and second team All-American in 2012.

After being selected seventh overall in 2012 by the Golden State Warriors, Barnes has spent the past seven seasons playing for the Warriors, Mavericks and Kings.