North Carolina basketball: 5 most underrated Tar Heels in program history

North Carolina basketball greats sometimes overshadow these underrated players.

North Carolina basketball has one of the deepest-woven tapestries in the country when it comes to the sport. The Tar Heels can reel off one great player after another, though the list almost always starts with Michael Jordan and goes from there. Chapel Hill is a college basketball mecca because of all of the greats that have passed through that campus.

Because of the star power associated with the Tar Heels, though, we sometimes overlook players who were just as important to North Carolina’s success but weren’t the best players. These players, due to that, are incredibly underrated on a national level.

Specifically, these are five of the most underrated North Carolina basketball players in the long history of the program.

5. Reyshawn Terry, F (2003-07)

The 2000s were good to North Carolina basketball, bringing two titles to Chapel Hill over that span (2005 and 2009). In the first of those runs to cutting down the nets, there were a number of big-time stars that suited up for the Tar Heels. Reyshawn Terry, a sophomore at the time, was not one of those stars. In fact, he barely played for UNC that year.

But after that title, Roy Williams’ team lost virtually every key contributor and was left to pick up the pieces. And at the forefront of that was Terry. While freshman Tyler Hansbrough joined the team, the Tar Heels needed a player who could consistently lead the way as a scorer outside of the young big man. That was Terry, who finished second on the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game along with 6.2 rebounds as well.

That team went 23-8 as they started to turn the page. The following year, however, more reinforcements arrived and North Carolina started on their way to winning another title. Terry became more of a role player but still a critical one with his size on the wing and the ability to simply get buckets.

Terry was never the best player on his team and he may not have even been the most versatile role player that we’ve ever seen. But in a crucial juncture for the Tar Heels when they needed to reload, his ability helped them bridge the gap and stay afloat.