The UNC basketball program has been fortunate to have a rich history of big men who have chosen to call Chapel Hill home.
Rebounding has never been an issue for the Tar Heels, as the frontcourt is typically full of top-tier big men who are essentially vacuums on the glass. We have been spoiled in recent memory by the likes of Sean May, Tyler Hansbrough, Brice Johnson and Armando Bacot (just to name a few), as those guys took pride in rebounding the basketball.
This year's team isn't your traditional UNC basketball squad, as this group lacks a true big man to fill that role.
After back-to-back double-double performances, junior guard Seth Trimble, who stands at 6-foot-3, now leads the Tar Heels with 5.4 rebounds per-game. This led us to ask the question:
Has a guard ever led the UNC basketball program in rebounding over a single-season?
After a lot of research (going as far back as the 1950s), the simple answer is no.
It's important to remember that positions were labeled a bit different during past decades. Some players who would be considered guards in today's game were in most cases classified as forwards.
While Trimble would likely have been considered a forward in the 1950s, the junior is a guard in our books. If he keeps up his rebounding efforts, Trimble has the potential to be the smallest (in terms of height) to lead the UNC basketball program in rebounding since...
The 1952-1953 season.
During that season, junior Bud Maddie, standing at 6-foot-4, led the Tar Heels with 11.6 rebounds per-contest, four more than the next closest competitor. Maddie averaged a double-double that season, a year in which the UNC basketball program posted a 17-10 record under the direction of Frank McGuire.
With this smaller unit, the UNC basketball program needs its guards to crash the boards as much as possible. Trimble, who takes tremendous pride in his defensive effort, has been doing his best in helping the rebounding effort on both ends, as he has the potential to be the first true guard to lead the team in rebounding in over 70 seasons.