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 third installment of our 9-part series ranking the top three UNC basketball players from each decade:

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: Sixth 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; grabbed 790 career rebounds.

Averaged 27.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game 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.

Name: Pete Brennan

Position: Forward

Jersey #: 35

Years: 1955-58

Honors: Consensus All-America 1958; 2-time All-ACC, 1st-team in 1958; 1958 ACC Player of the Year; 1957 NCAA All-Tournament team; 1st-team All-ACC Tournament team in 1957 and 1958; Jersey honored in Dean Dome.

Notable Stats: 46th all-time at UNC with 1,334 career points; 17th all-time with 854 rebounds; 3rd highest per-game rebounder in UNC history with 10.5 per contest; 18th highest per-game scoring average for a UNC career with 16.5 points; 5th highest single-season average with 11.7 rebounds per game in 1958; 218 made free throws in 1958 is the 6th most in a season in UNC history.

Key starter on the 1957 team that went 32-0, which along with the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers remains the best record in college basketball history. Made a shot with 4 seconds left to send UNC’s Final Four win over Michigan State into a second overtime.

Brennan later told the Charlotte Observer about the shot, “I got to the foul line, and there were two Michigan State guys there. I always had great confidence in shooting a jumper from around the foul line, and I thought to myself, ‘I’ll take it, and I’ll follow my own shot if I miss.’”

Scored 25 points and grabbed 28 rebounds in the 1957 Final Four and national title game earning all-tournament team honors. Twice averaged double-doubles with 14.7 points and 10.4 rebounds in 1957 and 21.3 points and 11.7 rebounds in 1958. Is one of seven Tar Heels to average a career double-double.

Name: Tommy Kearns

Position: Guard

Years: 1955-58

Honors: Second-team All-America in 1957; third-team All-America 1958; First-team All-ACC 1957 and 1958. His jersey number 40 hangs in the Smith Center rafters.

Notable Stats: Averaged 11.6 points for his career, including 14.9 in 1958.

At 5-foot-11, Kearns is best known for jumping center against Kansas superstar Wilt Chamberlain in the national championship game in 1957. It was a psychological ploy that worked for the Tar Heels, who won the game in triple overtime. He scored 11 points that day.

Assists weren’t kept as an official statistic back then, but he would surely have had a bunch since he was the team’s primary ball handler and playmaker.

Kearns scored 29 points in a 90-86 overtime thriller over South Carolina in 1957 helping to preserve UNC’s undefeated season. It’s 32-0 mark still remains tied with Indiana’s 32-0 record in 1976 as the best ever in Division One men’s college basketball.