Keeping It Heel
Fansided

The UNC Basketball program’s Top 10 players of the 1990s

By Nick Delahanty

7 Dec 1996: North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Dean Smith confers with guard Ed Cota during the Pepsi Challenge against the South Carolina Gamecocks at the Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC won the game, 86-75. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones /
7 Dec 1996: North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Dean Smith confers with guard Ed Cota during the Pepsi Challenge against the South Carolina Gamecocks at the Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC won the game, 86-75. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones / /
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27 Jan 1999: Ed Cota #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels waits on the floor during the game against the Duke Blue Devils at the Camron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The Blue Devils defeated the Tar Heels 89-77. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones /Allsport
27 Jan 1999: Ed Cota #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels waits on the floor during the game against the Duke Blue Devils at the Camron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The Blue Devils defeated the Tar Heels 89-77. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones /Allsport /

UNC basketball 1990s top player No. 5: Ed Cota

Career Stats: 9.1 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 7.5 APG, 45.2 FG%, 37.2 3PT%

If you think about the best passers to ever play for the UNC basketball program, Ed Cota must be near the very top of the list.

You could easily make the case that there’s never been a better facilitator in Carolina history, as Cota’s court vision made him and his highlight reel passes must-see television.

To this day, Cota is the only North Carolina player with 1,000 or more assists, as he has a 262-assist lead over the next closest on the list. All four of his seasons with the UNC basketball program rank among the top 10 in single-season history, as he sits third on the all-time NCAA assist leaderboard as well.

By the time his college career at North Carolina came to an end, he became the first player in NCAA basketball history to score 1,000 points, have 1,000 assists, and 500 rebounds in a career.

Cota was the 1996-1997 ACC Rookie of the Year and ended his UNC basketball career as a three-time All-ACC and three-time NCAA All-Region selection.

No. 5 on the list may seem low for a player of Cota’s caliber, but the next four on the list also put together outstanding college basketball careers at North Carolina.

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