No. 9: Billy Cunningham

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No. 9

Name: Billy Cunningham

Position: Forward

Jersey #: 32

Years: 1962-65

Honors: Two-time All-America 1964 & 1965; ACC player of the Year 1965; Three-time first-team All-ACC 1963, 1964 & 1965; Named to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary team; Inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame as a player 1986; NABC Hall of Fame as a player 1986; Jersey is honored in the Smith Center.

Notable Stats: Second highest career scoring average (24.8) at UNC; Highest career rebounding average (15.4) at Carolina; The fifth, seventh, and ninth highest single-season scoring averages in school history; Had single-game highs of 48 points in Dec. 1964 and 27 rebounds versus Clemson in Feb. 1963; Fourth all-time at UNC with 1,062 career rebounds; 19th all-time at UNC with 1,709 career points; Shot 47.6 percent from the field for his career.

In Closing: The Kangaroo Kid, Cunningham is one of the most entertaining Tar Heels of all time. An acrobat, rangy, and super aggressive, he was always the alpha dog on the court. The Heels didn’t play in any postseasons or win the ACC regular season or tournament during Cunningham’s career, but he was an important player, nonetheless. New York City player who was one of Dean Smith’s first stars. His UNC career ended the year before the Tar Heels went to the first of 10 Final Fours under Smith.

He is the only UNC player to average double-doubles in three different seasons, and he only played three seasons because freshmen could not play at the time. Lowest scoring average was 22.7 points in the 1962-63 season, lowest rebound average was 14.3 per game during the 1964-65 season.

Cunningham is remembered for ripping down from a tree Smith hanging in effigy after a loss at Wake Forest in 1965. He has the second, third, and fourth highest single-game rebounding marks in UNC history. Recorded a double-double in an NCAA-record 40 consecutive games, had a UNC-record 60 double-doubles for his career. An academic All-America. There's no denying Cunningham's greatness as a Tar Heel.