Keeping It Heel
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Raymond Felton: "JR Smith was already committed to us ... We would've been STACKED"

Imagine JR Smith on UNC's 2005 national championship team.
ByJeremiah Artacho|
Sep 9, 2017; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Former UNC Basketball player Raymond Felton and head coach Roy Williams before the game at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2017; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Former UNC Basketball player Raymond Felton and head coach Roy Williams before the game at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The UNC men's basketball program won three national championships under Roy Williams as head coach. His first was in 2005, featuring Raymond Felton, Sean Maye, and Marvin Williams. The next being in 2009 with a Tyler Hansbrough-led roster, and finally the infamous 2017 redemption season following the buzzer-beating shot by Villanova's Kris Jenkins one year prior.

Although Raymond Felton joined Philadelphia 76er Paul George's podcast and discussed how former NBA champion JR Smith, who's now playing golf for North Carolina A&T, was committed to play in Chapel Hill, in addition to the 2005 squad.

As Felton said on the podcast about Smith's original commitment to play for North Carolina:

"A lot of people don't know that JR Smith was supposed to come that year, too. Man, I'm telling you, he was already committed to us, and he had that good McDonald's game, and then he decided to go straight to the pros."

Imagine JR Smith on top of Felton, Maye, Williams, Jaward Williams, Reyshawn Terry, and Jackie Manuel on the roster — there is a lot of depth and plenty for Coach Williams to do on the court as far as substitutions go. However, while he did not attend UNC, Smith had success in the pros, winning in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers and in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers during the NBA Bubble.

Smith, who turns 40 years old this September, finished his NBA career averaging 12 points, three rebounds, and two assists per contest. In the 2012-13 season in New York, he recorded 18 points (highest of his career), five rebounds, and two assists.

If Smith had played one season in a UNC jersey, then his name could have been etched in the history of another Tar Heel to make the pros, but it will forever stand as one more "what if" scenario in Carolina basketball.

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