10 biggest North Carolina basketball NBA Draft busts of all time
By Joey Loose
North Carolina basketball NBA Draft bust No. 4: Eric Montross (1994: Round 1 Pick 9)
A 7’0 center originally from Indianapolis, Montross starred under Dean Smith in the early ’90s. A bench piece early in his career, he developed into an anchor in North Carolina’s frontcourt.
As a junior, he averaged 15.8 points and 7.6 rebounds and helped lead the Tar Heels to the 1993 NCAA Tournament championship, scoring at least 15 points in all their tournament wins. Montross left campus the following year as one of the ACC’s most efficient scorers.
Soon after, Montross was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 9th pick in the 1994 NBA Draft. His rookie numbers (10.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game) as Boston’s starting center were impressive, but this was the high point of his career.
He dealt with injuries later in his career and bounced around for six different NBA teams, but was never much of a factor across the next eight seasons before falling out of the league.
The Celtics picked Montross over guys like Eddie Jones, Jalen Rose, Aaron McKie, and a number of other productive future NBA players. His rookie season initially justified the pick, but Montross did not turn into a Top 10 draft pick type of player. He didn’t live up to those expectations from college. There’s not much else to say about Montross, though he’s been working more recently at North Carolina on their radio broadcasts.