Tommy LaGarde, or Tom as he’s referred to by some people, was a blue-collar player for Dean Smith at North Carolina from 1973-77. He did a lot of dirty work for the Tar Heels on teams that featured more highly acclaimed players such as Phil Ford and Walter Davis. But LaGarde had skills, too.

LaGarde (6-foot-10, 220 pounds) earned second-team All-ACC and second-team All-American honors during his senior season in Chapel Hill and was twice an Academic All-American.

A native of Detroit, MI, LaGarde averaged 14.4 and 7.6 rebounds as a junior and 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game as a senior, though he was limited to just 20 games as a senior in 1977 because of a torn knee. That included missing UNC’s run to the national championship game.

In 102 games as a Tar Heel, LaGarde scored 1,007 points, grabbed 545 rebounds, handed out 82 assists and blocked 46 shots. In addition to that all-American selection, he won a gold medal in 1976 playing for the United States in the Olympics.

“The thing I look back on the most was how much fun it was,” LaGarde told the Raleigh News & Observer in 2016. “Playing at a Carolina I’m sure is very different than a lot of other schools, there was pressure to win, but it was still just a lot of fun.”

LaGarde was the No. 9 overall pick in the first round of the 1977 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. He also played with the Seattle Supersonics, winning a world championship in 1978, Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey Nets in his six-year career.

His best pro season came in 1980-81 when he averaged 13.7 points and 8.1 rebounds for the Mavericks. He played 312 games in the NBA averaging 7.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest. Overall, LaGarde played 6,194 minutes, scored 2,376 points, pulled down 1,593 rebounds, handed out 456 assists, registered 94 steals and 131 blocked shots.

In the three-plus decades since his playing career ended, LaGarde has been known as an entrepreneur of sorts. Among his unique business ventures was a professional inline skating league he started in 1992. He’s also owned a wood and architectural salvage company and even worked on Wall Street.

In 2008, he and his wife, Heather, opened the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapaha, NC. It has thrived and remains in operation today.

His daughter, Hadden LaGarde, currently plays volleyball at UNC.