Keeping It Heel
Fansided

The 18 greatest UNC basketball players of the Roy Williams era

By Jordan Falls

ST. LOUIS - APRIL 04: Sean May #42 of the North Carolina Tar Heels celebrates after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini 75-70 to win the NCAA Men's National Championship game at the Edward Jones Dome on April 4, 2005 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS - APRIL 04: Sean May #42 of the North Carolina Tar Heels celebrates after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini 75-70 to win the NCAA Men's National Championship game at the Edward Jones Dome on April 4, 2005 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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UNC Basketball
ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 09: Tyler Zeller #44 of the North Carolina Tar Heels dunks in the first half against the Maryland Terrapins during the Quarterfinals of the 2012 ACC Men’s Basketball Conferene Tournament at Philips Arena on March 9, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

No. 14: Tyler Zeller

You’ll begin to notice a trend on this list: Roy Williams was good at developing players during their time in Chapel Hill, and Tyler Zeller is no different. Of course, Zeller’s freshman season was Tyler Hansbrough’s senior year, so he didn’t see as much playing time as he did later in his career.

However, Zeller still improved; by his junior season, he was a great asset to the UNC basketball program. In his last two seasons in Chapel Hill, he averaged 28.1 points per game and 16 points per game. While not quite reaching the double-double mark, he also averaged 8.4 rebounds per game during those two seasons. Zeller’s height (seven foot tall) was crucial to his success as a rim protector, and he used it to his advantage, averaging 1.1 blocks per game during his career, including 1.5 blocks per game during his senior season in 2011-2012.

His senior season performance in 2012 earned him First-Team All-ACC, ACC Player of the Year, and Consensus Second-Team All-American. Like Paige, his All-American honors placed his No. 44 jersey in the Smith Center’s rafters as an honored one.

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