Fansided

North Carolina basketball: Ranking the 27 best Tar Heels of all time

By Cody Williams

CHAPEL HILL, NC - 1983: Michael Jordan #23 of the North Carolina Tar Heels sits in the huddle against the Clemson Tigers circa 1983 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1983 NBAE (Photo by Anthony Neste/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - 1983: Michael Jordan #23 of the North Carolina Tar Heels sits in the huddle against the Clemson Tigers circa 1983 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1983 NBAE (Photo by Anthony Neste/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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CHAPEL HILL, NC- CIRCA 1960’s: Billy Cunningham #32 of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by North Carolina/Collegiate Images/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC- CIRCA 1960’s: Billy Cunningham #32 of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by North Carolina/Collegiate Images/Getty Images) /

9. Billy Cunningham (1962-65)

Billy Cunningham’s teams while he played for the Tar Heels were not great by the standards of a program that has always measured itself by championships. Over his three seasons in Chapel Hill, the team didn’t win the ACC in the regular season or in the conference tournament. Furthermore, Cunningham actually never played in the NCAA Tournament with UNC. If any of that had gone differently, though, he’d be much higher in the top 10 of these rankings.

Put simply, Cunningham was near unstoppable from the moment that he joined the Tar Heels as a sophomore. The 6-foot-6 big man could not be contained either when he was scoring or when he was attacking the glass. He showed this right away in his career as the Brooklyn native averaged 22.7 points and 16.1 rebounds per game. While that would be his career high in rebounding, it was just the start of him as a scorer.

As a junior with the Tar Heels, he put up a career-high scoring average of 26.0 points per game. And to be sure, his rebounding didn’t drop off dramatically as he still pulled down 15.8 rebounds per game. Finally, Cunningham’s senior season saw him average 25.4 points and 14.3 rebounds per game.

There have truly been few players in UNC history as prolifically productive as Cunningham. His 48-point game against Tulane as a senior is still the second most in a single game in school history, showing just how dominant he was for his era, despite the lack of team success.