Few college basketball programs have turned out as many NBA players as North Carolina, but there are some outstanding Tar Heels that actually never made to the league.

They were very close but just missed out for whatever reason. So, we wanted to have to fun looking up the best Heels to never play in the NBA and have comprised the following list of the best five from that group. Plus, we have some honorable mention members, too.

NOTE: Playing in the ABA counts, so this list is comprised of players that didn’t play in either league.

Also: Players in recent years not included, such as Armando Bacot.

This is subjective and for fun discussion. Your thoughts are welcomed.

Players from mid-1960s and on:

Ed Cota (1996-2000)

Perhaps the most surprising UNC player to never play one minute in an NBA game is Cota because of his wizardry passing the basketball and that he was such a grinder and competitor. Not know for being a great defender, Cota was a better shooter than some remember (37.2% from 3 for his career), and he was a winner and the greatest passer in Carolina history.

*Accolades:

---1997 ACC Rookie if the Year

---1997 Freshman All-America

---Three-time second-team All-ACC

*Stats:

---UNC’s all-time leader in assists with 1,030 and he is third all-time in NCAA history

---Averaged between 8.0 and 10.5 points per game in all four seasons. Averaged 7.5 assists in 138 college games.

---Scored 1,261 points / 192 steals / 470 turnovers / 517 rebounds / 93-for-250 from 3 (37.2%) / 45.2% FGs / played 4,431 games / Started 103 of 138 games

*Final Four in 1997, 1998, and 2000

*ACC Tournament titles in 1997 and 1998

Rusty Clark (1966-69)

If you enjoy digging into UNC’s basketball history, the name Rusty Clark appears prominently in the late 1960s. His name is one you invoke when discussing great eras in Carolina history because he was an integral part of Dean Smith’s first three Final Four teams and when the program became national.

But then it’s a surprise to learn he never played in the NBA or ABA. The 6-foot-10 forward/center was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1969 but never made a roster. And that is why he’s on this list.

*Accolades:

---1968 second-team All-ACC

---1967 & 1968 second-team All-ACC Tournament team

---1968 NCAA East Regional MOP

*Stats:

---Played 91 games in three seasons

---Averaged between 14.0 and 15.8 points per game in each season

---Averaged between 9.2 and 11.0 rebounds per game in each season

---Shot 51.1% for his career

---Career numbers: 1,339 points (45th all-time at UNC), 933 rebounds (13th).

*Final Four in 1967, 1968, and 1969

*ACC Tournament champions in 1967, 1968, and 1969

Joel Berry (2014-18)

The only player in college basketball to score 20 or more points in consecutive national championship games since Bill Walton did it in the 1972 and 1973 title games is Joel Berry.

He scored 20 points in the 2016 NCAA title game in a buzzer-beating loss to Villanova, and the next season, when the Tar Heels completed their “Redemption Tour” with a win over Gonzaga in the championship game, Berry tallied 22 points and was named the Most Outstanding Player.

For that, it was guaranteed his jersey number “2” would hang from the Smith Center rafters. But there was more to Berry’s four-year Carolina career.

*Accolades:

---2017 NCAA Tournament Final Four MOP

---2018 NABC 3rd-team All-America

---2017 second-team All-ACC, 2018 Honorable Mention All-ACC

---2016 ACC Tournament MVP

---2016 first-team All-ACC Tournament, 2018 second team

---Jersey No. 2 honored in Smith Center rafters

*Stats:

---Played 144 games in four seasons averaging 27.6 minutes per game

---Career scoring average 12.6 points per game

---Averaged 12.8, 14.7, and 17.1 points over each of last three seasons

---Shot 41.9% from the field, including 36.6% from 3-point range (266-for-726)

---Career numbers: 1,811 points (15th);

266 made threes (3rd all-time at UNC); 451 assists (13th); 165 steals; and he played 3,973 minutes.

---One of four Tar Heels with 1,800 points and 400 assists

*2017 national champions

*2016 NCAA runner-up

*Final Four in 2016 and 2017

*ACC Tournament champions in 2016

Donald Williams (1991-95)

There was “The Donald,” as in Trump, the nation’s current president and billionaire business man who gained the nickname in the 1980s. And then there’s “The Donald,” as in Williams, as in the 1993 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

Williams was the standard for a sharpshooter at UNC for a long time, as his 5-for-7 from 3-point range in the Final Four win over Kansas and 5-for-7 from outside in the NCAA championship win over Michigan

Williams was a three-year starter, prolific shooter, and sometimes an extremely high-volume scorer. It remains a surprise some NBA team didn’t want a shooter like him on its roster.

*Accolades:

*Most Outstanding Player 1993 Final Four

*Second-team All-ACC Tournament in 1993 and 1995

*Jersey No. 21 hangs in the rafters in the Smith Center

*Stats:

---Played 126 games in four seasons averaging 23.o minutes per contest

---Averaged between 14.3 and 15.5 points per game in each of his last three seasons

---Shot 22-1for-572 (38.6%) from 3-point range for his career

---Career numbers: 1,492 points (34th all-time at UNC); 252 rebounds; 202 assists; 93 steals; 221 made threes (7th).

*1993 National Champions

*Final Four in 1993 and 1995

*1994 ACC Tournament champions

Luke Maye (2015-19)

Luke Maye will forever live in Carolina history because he hit one of the most iconic shots in the program’s long fabled lore. That was a jump shot off a pass from Theo Pinson to beat Kentucky in the South Region Elite Eight in 2017.

Nine days later, the Tar Heels won the national championship. Maye’s eruption triggered the final two years of his UNC career, which were outstanding.

He turned into a double-double machine, was a perimeter threat, terrific rebounder, became a well-known face of the program, and was a grinder like few others before or since him.

*Accolades:

*2017 South Regional Most Outstanding Player

*Second-team All-America in 2018

*First-team All-ACC in 2018, second-team in 2019

*First-team All-ACC Tournament in 2018, second-team in 2019

*Stats:

---Played 141 games in four seasons averaging 21.1 minutes per contest

---Averaged 16.9 and 14.9 points in each of his last two seasons

---Averaged 10,1 and 10.5 rebounds in each of his last two seasons

---Ranks 13th all-time at UNC with 34 double-doubles

---Career numbers: 1,391 (41st all-time at UNC); 942 rebounds (11th); 104-for-288 (36.1%) from 3-point range; 46.0% field goals; 220 assists; 77 steals; 68 blocks.

---One of four Tar Heels to average a double-double in consecutive seasons

*2017 National Champions

*Final Four in 2017

*2016 ACC Tournament champions

Honorable Mention:

Lee Dedmon

Kennedy Meeks

Jason Capel

Deon Thompson

Garrison Brooks

Ademola Okulaja

Kris Lang