17. George Glamack (1938-41)
George Glamack has one of the most interesting stories not just in UNC history, but in all of college basketball history.
Glamack was nicknamed “The Blind Bomber” during his time in Chapel Hill because of his nearsightedness. It is said that he could hardly see the ball and that he gauged his shots not by looking at the basket, but by his knowledge of distances based on the blurred black lines on the court.
As almost unbelievable as this is, Glamack was named the National Player of the Year by the Helms Foundation in both 1940 and 1941, which also saw him earn first-team All-American honors.
Glamack’s UNC teams put up a combined Southern Conference record (pre-ACC) of 25-6 over his junior and senior seasons. Perhaps most importantly, Glamack was the star of UNC’s first-ever NCAA Tournament team in 1941, under the leadership of Head Coach Bill Lange.