(Note: THI is naming the greatest former UNC football or basketball player from each of the 50 states. The criteria is the player had to live in the state he represents at some point before arriving at UNC. The duration doesn’t matter, he just had to live there. College and pro careers were factored with a lean toward their UNC accomplishments.)
When Pete Chilcutt arrived at North Carolina prior to the 1986-87 season, the 6-foot-9 forward from Alabama realized he wasn’t quite ready to beat out UNC’s other, very talented big men for playing time.
Eventual NBA players J.R. Reid, Scott Williams, Joe Wolf and Dave Popson, a quartet that combined to play 40 seasons in the league. So Chilcutt decided to redshirt.
It was a smart move because he got stronger and eventually turned in a terrific career with the Tar Heels.
“If you had watched me play as a freshman and then as a senior, I would’ve been almost unrecognizable,” Chilcutt said. “I owe all that development to my teammates and mainly Coach (Dean) Smith. He had confidence in me when I didn’t believe in myself.”
In the end, Chilcutt, Rick Fox and King Rice led the Heels to the Final Four in their senior seasons, falling to Kansas in 1991. They finished their careers having played more games (140) than anyone else in Carolina history. The Heels were 106-34, including 11-4 in the NCAA Tournament, during their four years.
“I was proud of that,” Chilcutt said, noting the games played record. “It really showed what kind of coach Coach Smith was, and how he developed players.”
Chicutt’s scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in an overtime win over No. 1 Syracuse in his very first game . His buzzer-beating jumper sent the game into overtime before a depleted and young UNC team earned the victory.
Chilcutt grew up in Eutaw, AL, just outside of Tuscaloosa. As part of Smith’s promise to play at least one game near where his players were from, UNC visited Alabama in December of 1989, losing to the Crimson Tide, though Chilcutt scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
A starter as a Tar Heel 77 times, Chilcutt played 3,177 minutes. He scored 1,150 points, pulled down 766 rebounds, handed out 188 assists, registered 115 steals and blocked 83 shots. He even hit 20 shots from 3-point range. He averaged 12 points and 6.6 rebounds as a senior.
As noted, that final season ended with UNC reaching the Final Four in Indianapolis. A rough shooting game versus the Jayhawks and their third-year coach, Roy Williams, ended the Heels’ season and Chilcutt’s Carolina career.
“We had a very talented and deep team, a lingering regret that we didn’t go farther,” he said. “All three of the seniors had a bad game against Kansas.”
Chilcutt was the No. 27 overall pick in the first round of the 1991 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. He played nine years in the NBA, including with the world champion Houston Rockets in 1995.
He was with seven teams averaging 4.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. He played in 584 games, scored 2,494 points, grabbed 1,935 rebounds, handed out 488 assists, and blocked 210 shots. On April 9, 1995, Chilcutt scored a career-high 25 points in a Rockets’ 123-120 victory over the Denver Nuggets. He also grabbed nine rebounds that night.
Chilcutt started 15 of the Rockets’ playoff games in their 1995 run to the NBA title, but his career had some bumpy rides, and Chilcutt was often fueled by Smith’s words of comfort.
“Coach Smith (had) more confidence in my ability than I did,” Chilcutt said. “When I worried about contracts or my ability to play in the NBA, he was constantly reassuring me of all the skills and abilities I had. Eventually that rubbed off and I started to believe I belonged.
“The biggest qualities that I took from UNC to the league were my fundamentals, my court savvy, and my work ethic. I learned to work hard and prepare myself for success, and that was instilled during my Carolina days.”
Chilcutt, who lives in Fair Oaks, CA, with his wife and two children, has spent most of the last decade working in education, first as a middle school teacher and more recently for a home school charter school.
