6/28/2016 basketball Edit

No. 3: Lennie Rosenbluth

The best player on perhaps UNC's best team ever, Lennie Rosenbluth defines what a legend is all about.

Andrew Jones • TarHeelIllustrated

Publisher

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.

Name: Lennie Rosenbluth

Position: Forward

Jersey #: 10

Years: 1954-57

Honors: 1957 National Player of the year; 2-time All-America; 1957 ACC Player of the Year; 3-time All-ACC; 1957 NCAA Regional MVP; 1957 Final Four MOP; jersey No. 10 is retired by UNC.

Notable Stats: 4th all-time in scoring at UNC with 2,045 points; highest all-time scoring average for a career with 26.9 per game; single-season scoring average leader with 28 ppg in 1957; 985 points scored in a season is still a UNC record; Scored 40 or more points a UNC record 5 times; 19th all-time at UNC with 790 career rebounds.

In Closing: Averaged 28 points and 9 rebounds per game in leading the Tar Heels to a 32-0 season in 1957, capping it by UNC defeating Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas in triple overtime for the national championship. The 32-0 mark, equaled by the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers, remains the best record ever in major college basketball. Rosenbluth’s career came a decade after UNC dropped the national title game to Oklahoma A&M and several years before Dean Smith took over the program. Rosenbluth was a star the moment he put on a Carolina uniform, as he averaged 25,5 points per game in his first season. The best player on perhaps the best team in Tar Heels' history is worthy of the top spot like the men above him.

Prior Ranked Heels

30 - Brice Johnson

29 - Ed Cota

28 - Pete Brennan

27 - Mike O'Koren

26 - John "Hook" Dillon

25 - J.R. Reid

24 - Bobby Jones

23 - Brad Daugherty

22 - Raymond Felton

21 - Jerry Stackhouse

20 - Sean May