Coach Hubert Davis Aiming To Regain
UNC’s Prominent Place In NBA Universe
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
In 2016, when ESPN ranked the top 100 players in National Basketball Association history, no college basketball program exceeded North Carolina’s representation.
UNC and UCLA led the way with six players each on the all-time NBA Top 100, followed by Georgetown (four), Houston (three) and LSU (three).
The six former Tar Heels included in the prestigious professional group were Michael Jordan (#1), James Worthy (#43), Bob McAdoo (#52), Vince Carter (#69), Billy Cunningham (#88) and Bobby Jones (#96).
All six Carolina legends left behind impressive individual marks — along with a trail of team success — during their time in Chapel Hill.
Jordan and Worthy, of course, helped coach Dean Smith’s 1982 UNC squad win both the ACC and NCAA championships.
Jones and McAdoo, the only junior college signee of Smith’s 36-year head coaching career, led the Tar Heels to an ACC title and the 1972 Final Four during McAdoo’s only season in Chapel Hill.
Carter played key roles on back-to-back ACC champions and Final Four teams, in 1997 under Smith and in 1998 under Smith’s long-time right-hand man, Bill Guthridge.
Cunningham, a three-time first-team All-ACC selection at a time when freshmen were ineligible under NCAA rules, helped Smith begin his incredible streak of 33 consecutive top-three finishes in the ACC standings.
In more recent years, though, UNC has fallen from its long-standing, prominent perch in the NBA universe.
In fact, the 2024-25 NBA regular season recently started (Tuesday night) with only seven UNC products on NBA rosters, the lowest number in recent memory. That number includes Walker Kessler, who played only one season (2020-21) as a little-used reserve with the Tar Heels before developing into a first-round draft pick during his single season at Auburn.
UNC Products In NBA
(2024-25 Opening-Night Rosters)
Player, Position, Team (NBA Season)
Cole Anthony, G, Orlando Magic (fifth)
Harrison Barnes, F, San Antonio Spurs (13th)
Harrison Ingram*, F, San Antonio Spurs (first)
Cameron Johnson*, F, Brooklyn Nets (sixth)
Walker Kessler*, C, Utah Jazz (third)
Day’Ron Sharpe, C, Brooklyn Nets (fourth)
Coby White, G, Chicago Bulls (sixth)
*—played for multiple colleges
For perspective, consider that Duke had 24 of its former players on opening-night NBA rosters this year. (For the full list of 2024-25 NBA players from current ACC schools, please click HERE.)
The Blue Devils’ massive contingent was led by Boston forward Jayson Tatum, an eighth-year veteran and five-time NBA All-Star, and Dallas point guard Kyrie Irving, a 14th-year veteran and eight-time NBA All-Star. Each player already has been an NBA champion — Tatum last year with the Celtics, and Irving in 2016 with Cleveland.
Duke’s crew also included two NBA rookies: Utah forward Kyle Filipowski and Philadelphia guard Jared McCain. There has been no dropoff in that regard during the Blue Devils’ transition from legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski to long-time assistant Jon Scheyer.
Virginia had more of its former players on opening-night NBA rosters, too. The Cavaliers’ nine representatives also included two NBA rookies, Golden State guard Reece Beekman and Phoenix forward Ryan Dunn.
During the 15-year tenure of UVa coach Tony Bennett, who surprisingly retired on the eve of the upcoming 2024-25 college season, the Cavaliers arguably had a slightly better body of work than the Tar Heels. Each program captured a national championship (UNC in 2017, UVa in 2019) and won or shared six regular-season ACC titles during that stretch, but the Cavs had two ACC Tournament championships to the Heels’ one, and they sent more players to the NBA.
UNC, meanwhile, gradually has reduced its NBA presence, and that trend appears to be continuing this year.
Danny Green, a member of UNC’s 2009 national championship team, retired during the offseason. The 37-year-old guard, who started for NBA title teams in 2014 (San Antonio), 2019 (Toronto) and 2020 (Los Angeles Lakers), played 15 seasons in The League. A 40-percent three-point shooter during his professional career, he played in the postseason 13 times.
Five other UNC products who spent at least some time in the NBA last season — Leaky Black, Reggie Bullock, Justin Jackson, Nassir Little and Pete Nance — failed to make an opening-night 2024-25 NBA roster. Bullock, 33, is an 11-year veteran and likely will join an NBA team at some point this season, but the others appear more likely to find their next job somewhere overseas.
Fourth-year UNC coach Hubert Davis, a 12-year NBA veteran himself during his playing days, hasn’t yet sent an impactful player to the The League, at least not as a head coach. His best Carolina players — Caleb Love, Brady Manek, Armando Bacot, Harrison Ingram and RJ Davis — often have been wonderful college performers, but none has become a prominent professional prospect.
That trend probably will have to change if Davis is going to turn the Tar Heels into the consistent national contenders they were under Smith, Guthridge and most recently Roy Williams, a three-time (2005, 2009, 2017) national champion.
On this year’s Carolina team, which will begin its regular season Nov. 4 with a home game against Elon, nobody is guaranteed to become a first-round NBA draft pick. The Tar Heels haven’t had one of those since Day’Ron Sharpe in 2021.
However, the long list of “possible” NBA players from this year’s Carolina squad includes the fifth-year senior Davis, much-improved junior guard Seth Trimble, Belmont forward transfer Cade Tyson, veteran post player Jalen Washington, sophomore point guard Elliot Cadeau and an extremely talented freshman trio led by prep All-American wing players Ian Jackson and Drake Powell.
Now it’s up to the UNC coaching staff to help those players chase their NBA dreams — and contribute with a team-first mindset during their time in Chapel Hill — while also continuing to recruit the Tar Heels’ next generation of potential NBA superstars.
That combination is exactly how Smith once turned Carolina basketball into one of the greatest-ever mixtures of future NBA talent and consistent, high-level collegiate success.
Under much different rules, and in a much different era, it’s now up to Davis to do the same.