Fansided

Ranking the top 30 UNC basketball players in program history

By Cooper Watson

CHAPEL HILL, NC - MARCH 7: Michael Jordan kisses former coach Dean Smith of the North Carolina Tar Heels during a halftime ceremony honoring the 1993 national championship team during a game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the Dean Smith Center on March 7, 2007 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - MARCH 7: Michael Jordan kisses former coach Dean Smith of the North Carolina Tar Heels during a halftime ceremony honoring the 1993 national championship team during a game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the Dean Smith Center on March 7, 2007 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 23: A detailed photo of a Nike Elite basketball during the game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the UNC Asheville Bulldogs at the Dean E. Smith Center on November 23, 2021 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 23: A detailed photo of a Nike Elite basketball during the game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the UNC Asheville Bulldogs at the Dean E. Smith Center on November 23, 2021 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

25. Jack Cobb (1923-26)

I know what you must be thinking. 1923-26? The Great Depression hadn’t even happened yet. Still, Jack Cobb’s college career was undeniably great, as different as that era must have been from the modern era of basketball.

Although pre-NCAA, Cobb was an All-American on the 1923-24 UNC team that went undefeated and was named National Champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation as well as the Premo-Poretta Power Poll. Cobb went on to be a three-time All-American as well as the National Player of the Year in his final season in 1926.

Cobb led the Heels to three straight Southern Conference titles from 1924-26. When Cobb graduated in 1926, his UNC teams had posted an overall record of 66-10 and a Southern Conference record of 22-0.

Although there are no truly official stats, it is said that he averaged 15 PPG—an impressive number for that era. Cobb is one of eight UNC players to have their number officially retired.