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Honored North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players

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Retired and honored jerseys hanging from the rafters at Dean E. Smith Center

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill men's basketball program honors fifty-one former players by hanging their jerseys in the rafters of the Dean E. Smith Center, the home to the men's basketball team on the university's campus. Of these, eight are both honored and retired. However, only seven jersey numbers are retired, as honoree Jack Cobb played before jersey numbers were the norm, meaning he had no number to retire. Justin Jackson and Joel Berry are the most recent players to be honored, following the 2016–17 season. Jackson qualified by being named the ACC Player of the Year and a first-team All-American. Berry was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2017 Final Four.[1][2]

Criteria

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Tyler Hansbrough walking back to the players' tunnel after his jersey retirement ceremony on February 10, 2010.

North Carolina requires that players must be recognized for excellence for their performance during the regular season, in post-season play, or in the Olympics. Specifically, a player's jersey qualifies for honoring if he receives one or more of the following five awards: first- or second-team All-America on one of the major All-American teams that qualify a player for a consensus All-American designation, an ACC Player of the Year, the Most Valuable Player of a National Championship-winning team (as voted by coaches and teammates), the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player of a Final Four team, or a gold medal in basketball at the Olympics.[3]

Additionally, a player can also achieve the even greater honor of having his jersey (along with his uniform number) permanently retired by the University of North Carolina. To attain jersey retirement, a Tar Heel must win one or more of the following six national player of the year awards: Associated Press, National Association of Basketball Coaches, Sporting News, John R. Wooden Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy, or the Naismith College Player of the Year. The (now defunct) Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year award formerly served as a seventh option. The most recent player to merit bestowal of this honor is Tyler Hansbrough, who won all six of the national player of the year awards in his 2007–08 season.[4]

Honored players

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Players whose numbers are retired are shown with a blue background.[5]

No. Name Years Criteria met
NC Cartwright Carmichael 1921–24 First-team All-America
NC Jack Cobb 1923–26 National Player of the Year
20 George Glamack 1938–41 National Player of the Year, First-team All-America
8 Jim Jordan 1944–46 Second-team All-America
13 John "Hook" Dillon 1945–48 First-team All-America
10 Lennie Rosenbluth 1954–57 National Player of the Year, First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year
35 Pete Brennan 1955–58 First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year
40 Tommy Kearns 1955–58 Second-team All-America
12 Lee Shaffer 1957–60 First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year
22 York Larese 1958–61 Second-team All-America
35 Doug Moe 1958–61 First-team All-America
11 Larry Brown 1960–63 Olympic gold medal
32 Billy Cunningham 1962–65 First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year
22 Bob Lewis 1964–67 First-team All-America
44 Larry Miller 1965–68 First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year
33 Charlie Scott 1967–70 Olympic gold medal, First-team All-America
31 Bill Chamberlain 1969–72 Second-team All-America
44 Dennis Wuycik 1969–72 First-team All-America
35 Bob McAdoo 1971–72 First-team All-America
34 Bobby Jones 1971–74 First-team All-America
21 Mitch Kupchak 1972–76 First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, Olympic gold medal
24 Walter Davis 1973–77 Olympic gold medal
45 Tommy LaGarde 1973–77 Olympic gold medal, Second-team All-America
12 Phil Ford 1974–78 National Player of the Year, First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, Olympic gold medal
31 Mike O'Koren 1976–80 First-team All-America
30 Al Wood 1977–81 Second-team All-America
52 James Worthy 1979–82 National Player of the Year, First Team All-America, MVP of NCAA champions, NCAA Tournament MOP
41 Sam Perkins 1980–84 Olympic gold medal, First-team All-America
23 Michael Jordan 1981–84 National Player of the Year, First Team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, Olympic gold medal
42 Brad Daugherty 1982–86 First-team All-America
30 Kenny Smith 1983–87 First-team All-America
34 J.R. Reid 1986–89 First-team All-America
34 George Lynch 1989–93 MVP of NCAA Champions
00 Eric Montross 1990–94 Second-team All-America
21 Donald Williams 1991–95 NCAA Tournament MOP
42 Jerry Stackhouse 1993–95 First-team All-America
30 Rasheed Wallace 1993–95 Second-team All-America
15 Vince Carter 1995–98 Second-team All-America, Olympic gold medal
33 Antawn Jamison 1995–98 National Player of the Year, First Team All-America, ACC Player of the Year
00 Brendan Haywood 1997–2001 Second-team All-America
40 Joseph Forte 1999–2001 First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year
2 Raymond Felton 2002–05 MVP of NCAA Champions
42 Sean May 2002–05 First-team All-America, MVP of NCAA Champions, NCAA Tournament MOP
32 Rashad McCants 2002–05 Second-team All-America
50 Tyler Hansbrough 2005–09 National Player of the Year, First Team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, MVP of NCAA Champions
5 Ty Lawson 2006–09 Second-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, MVP of NCAA Champions
22 Wayne Ellington 2006–09 NCAA Tournament MOP
44 Tyler Zeller 2008–12 Second-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year
40 Harrison Barnes 2010–12 Second-team All-America, Olympic gold medal
5 Marcus Paige 2012–16 Second-team All-America
11 Brice Johnson 2012–16 First-team All-America
44 Justin Jackson 2014–17 First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, MVP of NCAA Champions
2 Joel Berry 2014–18 NCAA Tournament MOP
4 R. J. Davis 2020–present First-team All-America, ACC Player of the Year

References

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  1. ^ "Johnson Earns First-Team All-America Honors". GoHeels.com. March 14, 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  2. ^ Carter, Andrew (March 14, 2016). "Brice Johnson's number 11 headed for Smith Center rafters". News & Observer. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  3. ^ 2016-17 Carolina Basketball Media Guide (PDF). Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2016. p. 100. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
  4. ^ "Hansbrough Wins Wooden Award, Sweeping Major Individual Honors". GoHeels.com. Los Angeles: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Associated Press. 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
  5. ^ Carolina Basketball 2016-17 Fact & Records Book (PDF). Chapel Hill, NC: GoHeels.com. 2016. pp. 164–170. Retrieved 2017-04-20.