The 18 greatest UNC basketball players of the Roy Williams era
By Jordan Falls
No. 18: Luke Maye
We begin our countdown with one of the most developed players in the Roy Williams Era, who hit one of the biggest shots in UNC Basketball history. Luke Maye was a three-star recruit out of high school but became one of the most-known players in school history thanks to his buzzer-beating shot in the 2017 Elite Eight to send the Tar Heels to the Final Four.
He only averaged 5.4 minutes per game his freshman season but averaged more than 30 minutes per game his final two seasons as a Tar Heel. His junior season was his best, where he averaged more than 16.9 points per game and made 43.1% of his three-point attempts that season. During his last two seasons in Chapel Hill, he averaged a double-double.
Of course, his sophomore season was when he reached the peak of stardom with his 2017 NCAA Tournament performance, where he averaged 8.7 points per game through 16.2 minutes per game. His shot to beat Kentucky not only sent the Tar Heels to the Final Four but ultimately propelled the UNC Basketball program to its seventh National Championship and third of the Roy Williams Era. Without his iconic shot, Maye’s career could’ve been different, and he likely doesn’t land on this list.
To go along with his on-court performance, he was named First-Team All-ACC in 2018 and was named the ACC’s Most Improved Player the same season. He made Second-Team All-ACC in 2019. Off the court, he was a second-team Academic All-American in 2018 and 2019.