6/25/2021 basketball Edit

No. 3: Lennie Rosenbluth

Lennie Rosenbluth was the National Player of the Year on one of the greatest college basketball teams of all time. (UNC Athletics)

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.

No. 3

Name: Lennie Rosenbluth

Position: Forward

Jersey #: 10

Years: 1954-57

Honors: National Player of the year 1957; Two-time All-America in 1956 & 1957; ACC Player of the Year 1957; Three-time first-team All-ACC in 1955, 1956 & 1957; NCAA Regional MVP 1957; ACC Male Athlete of the Year 1957; Named to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary team; International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame; Jersey No. 10 is retired by UNC.

Notable Stats: Fourth 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 five times; Has four of this highest six scoring games in UNC history; 22nd all-time at UNC with 790 career rebounds.

In Closing: Averaged 27.9 points and 8.6 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. He scored 20 points in the title game. The 32-0 mark, equaled by the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers, remains the best record ever in major college basketball. Rosenbluth was the star of that team and was named to the all-tournament team at the 1957 Final Four.

His 19 made field goals versus Clemson in the 1957 ACC Tournament remain an ACC Tournament record. At a time when the lone ACC representative in the NCAA Tournament had to win the conference tournament, Rosenbluth averaged 35 points per game in leading UNC to the title, and in three ACC Tournament games and two Final Four games that year, he averaged 31.2 points.

Rosenbluth had the highest scoring average for a Tar Heel ever who also averaged a double-double in the same season at 26.7 points and 11.5 rebounds during the 1955-56 campaign. 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.