The 18 greatest UNC basketball players of the Roy Williams era
By Jordan Falls
No. 1: Tyler Hansbrough
You didn’t expect anyone else, did you?
Unlike everyone else, let’s just begin with his list of accolades: In 2006, ACC All-Freshman Team, ACC Rookie of the Year, USBWA National Freshman of the Year, and Consensus Second-Team All-American. That’s a good year for most players; he did it his freshman season.
In 2008, he was ACC Player of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP, and the National Player of the Year. Oh, and he was four-time First-Team All-ACC all four years of his career and Consensus First-Team All-American his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. Top all of that off with two Final Fours and a National Championship, and what more do you want in a player?
He led every team he was on in scoring and rebounding. During his career, he averaged 31 minutes per game, 20.2 points per game, and 8.6 rebounds per game. His best statistical season was his junior year, when he won National Player of the Year, as he averaged 2.2.6 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game while hitting 54% of his field goal attempts.
Have there been more talented players that came through Chapel Hill? Maybe so. But no one had the amount of work ethic and desire to win that Hansbrough put on display night in and night out. It is a rarity to see a player stay all four seasons in college basketball, and we may never see it happen again. One thing is for sure: we will never see another No. 50 in a North Carolina jersey as it is retired.
He holds multiple records for the UNC basketball program, including the all-time scoring record. We could list them all, but I believe we would run out of characters at some point. And besides, do I really have to convince you he’s the No. 1 player of the Roy Williams Era?