6/14/2021 basketball Edit

No. 13: Bobby Lewis

Bobby Lewis is one of the most prolific scorers in Carolina basketball history, a major reason he's on this list. (UNC Athletics)

Andrew Jones • TarHeelIllustrated

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Andrew Jones has covered sports for 26 years, including all major college & professional sports for daily newspapers & national sites. He's done radio and TV & is entering his seventh year at THI.

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No. 13

Name: Bobby Lewis

Position: Forward

Jersey #: 22

Years: 1964-67

Honors: Two-time All-America 1966 & 1967, Some first-team spots in 1967; Three-time All-ACC, first-team 1966 & 1967, second-team 1965; NCAA East Region MVP 1967; First-team All-ACC Tournament 1967.

Notable Stats: Lewis is 11th all-time at UNC with 1,836 career points; Second highest single-season scoring average with 27.4 in 1966; Fourth highest single-season total with 740 points in 1966; Fourth highest UNC career scoring average with 22.1; Fifth longest UNC streak scoring in double figures at 40 games; in his three seasons, he averaged 21.0, 27.4, and 18.5 points per game, respectively. Averaged 6.1 rebounds for his career with a high of 8.0 as a sophomore.

In Closing: Also referred to as Bob Lewis, he is one of the great scorers in UNC history, Lewis came along when the program was beginning to rebound after a decline following the 1957 national championship. Lewis rarely met a shot he didn’t like, and that was usually okay because he more often than not converted. He scored a UNC single-game record 49 points versus FSU in 1965 and had 43 in a win over Richmond eight days earlier.

Those two games were in a stretch in which he scored 30 or more in a Carolina-record five consecutive games. Lewis reached the 20-point mark in one stretch for 12 straight games, the fourth longest streak ever at UNC. He helped lead the Tar Heels to the 1967 ACC championship and 1967 Final Four, both firsts for Dean Smith at the helm.

Interestingly, replying to a tweet from UNC’s official basketball handle in 2015, when it noted the anniversary of Lewis’ 49-point game versus FSU, legendary baseball writer and UNC alum Peter Gammons tweeted back writing, “Bobby, at 6-2 averaging 37 in freshman games was a sight to behold, and he squared off against Bob Verga, Pete Maravich.”

There's no question that Lewis' place in Carolina lore is worthy of high praise and this lofty position.