The idea of North Carolina bringing in transfers was quite foreign not too long ago. A few players became Tar Heels over time, but it was quite rare.

Of late, however, it has become an annual thing with the transfer portal and the influences of NIL making it easier for players to leave for new schools, and often get paid well to make those moves.

UNC has benefitted greatly from the portal and players getting the 2020-21 Covid season back. So, with that, here are the top 10 players to ever transfer into the UNC program:

Bob McAdoo didn’t transfer to North Carolina from another Division One school, he came from a junior college, where he was a standout and national champion.

He led Vincennes to a junior college national championship and was first-team All-America, and then in his lone season under Dean Smith, McAdoo was consensus first-team All-ACC and All-America.

McAdoo led UNC with 19.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per contest in helping the Tar Heels reach the Final Four in 1972. That was his only season at Carolina.

Pro: McAdoo won two NBA titles, was Rookie of the Year in 1973, league MVP in 1975, was a five-time all-star, a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, and is in the Naismith Hall of Fame. He even won three NBA championships as an assistant coach.

The best of the modern-era transfers into UNC, Johnson made himself into an NBA player during his two seasons playing for Roy Williams.

A transfer from Pitt, Johnson played two seasons with the Tar Heels averaging 12.4 points as a junior and 16.9 as a senior. He shot 45.7 percent from beyond the arc his final campaign earning first-team All-ACC.

Johnson helped lead the Tar Heels to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2019, but a flu bug hit the team before their Sweet 16 loss to Auburn, ending the season.

Johnson was passionate, became a leader, and made himself into an NBA player while at UNC.

Pro: Johnson is heading into his sixth season in the NBA and currently plays for the Brooklyn Nets.

Another one-year transfer on this list, Manek remains widely loved by UNC fans because of how he played during his lone season, especially during Carolina’s surprising run to the national championship game.

Manek’s long hair and large beard endeared him to fans, too, and along with his tenacity and barking on the floor, annoyed opponents.

He averaged 15.1 points and 6.1 rebounds for the Tar Heels, and shot 40.3 percent from 3-point range. He was outstanding in UNC’s win at Duke in Coach K’s final home game, and was huge in the Heels’ run to the NCAA title game.

He played four seasons at Oklahoma before heading to UNC.

Pro: Manek is currently playing overseas.

Ingram made the most of his lone season in Chapel Hill, enhancing his game enough to get drafted by the San Antonio Spurs.

Ingram was third-team All-ACC after leading the conference in rebounding in league games, and overall averaging 12.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and shooting 38.5 percent from the perimeter.

His energy and passion aren’t noted on stat sheets, but were as important as his numbers for a team that won the ACC regular season and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before falling in the Sweet 16.

Ingram played two seasons at Stanford before ending up at Carolina.

Pro: Second-round selection this summer by the San Antonio Spurs.

While the season Nance spent with the Tar Heels could go down as the most disappointing ever for the program, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a solid player.

The truth is, Nance didn’t fit in the manner Hubert Davis said he would. It just didn’t work. But Nance was still a contributor averaging 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.

He hit some key shots, including against Ohio State in Madison Square Garden, and had several 20-point games.

Nance spent four seasons at Northwestern before using his final year at UNC.

Pro: Nance had a two-way deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers this past season, mostly playing in the G League, but he did see action in eight games for the Cavaliers.

Ryan played one season at UNC – last season – and turned in his best basketball as a Tar Heel toward the end of the season.

A starter at the wing spot all year, he averaged 30.3 minutes per game scoring 11.5 points per contest. Reyan was75-for-212 attempting 3-pointers, and was an above average defender for Hubert Davis’ Tar Heels.

He helped UNC to a regular season ACC title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Ryan played one season at Stanford and three at Notre Dame before transferring to UNC.

Pros: He is currently with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This might be a controversial choice given that many UNC fans don’t care much for N’Diaye, who embarrassed the school in the 1998 Final Four by accusing a Utah player of using racial slurs, a charge N’Diaye later took back.

As a player, N’Diaye was a solid big man with decent moves around the basket. He played two seasons at Michigan before transferring to UNC. He played only 7.8 minutes per game his junior season, but played 23.8 starting 30 times as a senior. N’Diate averaged 5.8 points and 4.1 rebounds that season.

He was part of first-year coach Bill Guthridge’s six-man starting rotation, where he included Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Shammond Williams, Ademola Okulaja, and Ed Cota rotating as starters.

Pro: N’Diaye played in four games for the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1999.

Perhaps Miller is a bit too high on this list, but the manner he stepped into a starting role in 2006 and was so key infusing the Tar Heels that season with his tenacity and energy, and as a perimeter shooter, he is worthy of noting on this list.

Miller played a year at James Madison before transferring to UNC. Tar Heel Rashad McCants played at New Hampton with Miller and encouraged him to transfer to Carolina. McCants was also integral in Roy Williams taking Miller.

Miller was on the 2005 national championship team, though he didn’t play much. He did the following season, starting the final 16 games and averaging 7.2 points in 23 minutes per contest. The following season, Miller was a reserve off the bench averaging 10.6 minutes.

Miller is currently the head coach at Cincinnati.

Withers arrived at UNC having started 64 games at fellow ACC foe Louisville. He posted some impressive numbers at times with the Cardinals, who struggled mightily his last two seasons there.

At UNC, Withers has one season remaining and could climb this list. He averaged 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in a reserve role last season, and overall has scored 807 points in 118 college games.

We have McKinney on the list because he played at another school before ending up at UNC, but there’s a gray area in determining if he should be considered a transfer.

McKinney began his college career at NC State, playing for the Wolfpack for three years, and one season even led State in scoring. But he was drafted to serve in World War II, and after the war, enrolled at UNC, which was coached by Ben Carnevale, who was at Fort Bragg at the same time as McKinney, and convinced him to play at UNC.

The 1946 Carolina club reached the national title game when it lost by three points to Bib Kurland and Oklahoma A&M, which is now Oklahoma State.

Pros: McKinney played 12 seasons with the Washington Capitols.

Note: He later was head coach at Wake Forest and led the Demon Deacons to the Final Four in 1962.