Every offseason, we have fun at Tar Heel Illustrated diving into the past history of North Carolina’s football and basketball programs. Ranking players and teams in a variety of groupings giving our readers topics to discuss.

We change it up each year, and this offseason is no different as we unveil the top three UNC basketball players from basically each decade. This is a 9-part series that begins with the top three players before the 1940s and then we do each remaining decade.

The current decade is not included as it’s only half over.

So, here is the first installment of our 9-part series ranking the top three UNC basketball players from each decade:

Name: Jack Cobb

Position: Guard/Forward

Years: 1923-26

Honors: National Player of the Year 1926; Three-time All-America 1924, 1925 & 1926; Three-time All-Southern Conference 1924, 1925 & 1926; Patterson Medal 1927; Helms Foundation Hall of Fame; Jersey retired by UNC.

Notable Stats: Averaged 15 points a game at a time when the Tar Heels averaged 35; scored 353 points in the 1923-24 campaign. No other stats from his era are available.

Nicknamed “Mr. Basketball,” Cobb was regarded as a fancy player during his time. A slick, daring passer who had an array of acrobatic shots in his repertoire, he led UNC to the 1924 national championship and 26-0 record, though the title was awarded about 12 years later by the Helms Foundation, and he was captain in 1925. Overall, Cobb led Carolina to three straight Southern Conference championships from 1924-26 and to a 66-10 record.

Teamed with Cart Carmichael for a few years to form one of Carolina’s greatest duos ever. Cobb scored 17 points in UNC’s first ever meeting with Kentucky, a victory in 1924. Four days later, he scored 15 points to beat Alabama to win the Southern Conference championship, springing UNC to the national championship.

Cobb led UNC in scoring all three seasons, including his best 13.6 average during the 1923-24 national championship campaign. He averaged 11.9 as a senior in 1925-26 when he was named National Player of the Year.

Name: Cart Carmichael

Position: Guard/Forward/Center

Years: 1922-24

Honors: All-American 1923, 1924. All-Southern Conference 1922, 1923, 1924. Jersey hangs in the Smith Center rafters.

Noteworthy: Cartright was the first UNC athlete in any sport to be named All-America, which happened in 1923.

A vital part of UNC’s 1924 Helms Foundation national championship team that went 26-0. He was a bit of a do-everything player who was a terrific shooter but could also rebound, defend, and was described as a “fluid” player at the time.

As noted in the book University of North Carolina Basketball, UNC coach Norman Shepard later said about the legendary Carolina club, "That 1924 team was characterized by quickness and speed...It was a very, very fast team, and we used the fast break effectively...I had inherited a very good group of boys from the team before...Carmichael and Dodderer were exceptionally good...Carmichael and Cobb were so fast and quick with their faking and feinting and breaking, and Carmichael could drive to the basket with unbelievable speed and hold himself in the air for a long time, like he was suspended."

UNC’s basketball home before moving into the Smith Center, and still the home to Carolina’s women’s team, Carmichael Auditorium (now Carmichael Arena) was named after him.

Name: Jim McCachren

Position: Guard

Years: 1934-36

Honors: All-Southern Conference 1934, 1935, 1936. All-Southern Conference tournament team 1934, 1935, 1936.

Also a football star at UNC and member of the 1935 team that was one win from playing in the Rose Bowl, McCachren was better know for his play on the basketball court and a highly successful three-year stint. He had three other brothers who excelled on the hardwood in Chapel Hill from 1931-43.

He was named to the All-Southern Conference Tournament team each of his three seasons, with UNC winning it twice. Legendary sportswriter Smith Berrier placed McCachren on his pre-WWII UNC basketball team as a starter in the back court.

At 6-foot-1, McCachren was considered a feisty player who could score and defend. He was a leader of UNC’s 1935 team that went 23-2.

In the 1953-54 UNC basketball media guide, it noted about McCachren, “Jim McCachren rates among the all-time Carolina basketball greats.”

UNC was 62-10 in his three years playing for the White Phantoms.