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

Name: Phil Ford

Position: PG

Years: 1974-78

Honors: National Player of the Year 1978; Three-time first-team All-America 1976, 1977 & 1978; ACC Player of the Year 1978; Three-time first-team All-ACC 1976, 1977 & 1978; ACC Tournament MVP 1975; ACC Athlete of the year 1977 & 1978: Freshman All-American 1975; Patterson medal 1978; Inducted into College Basketball Hall of Fame 2012; Named to ACC’s 50th Anniversary team; No. 12 is retired by UNC.

Notable Stats: Graduated as UNC’s all-time leading scorer (since broken by Tyler Hansbrough) with 2,290 points; Fourth all-time at UNC in scoring; Ninth all-time at UNC averaging 18.6 points in 123 games; Third all-time at UNC with 753 career assists; 6.1 average assists per game.

Considered by many as the greatest Tar Heel ever. Ford is best remembered for running Dean Smith’s Four Corners offense to near perfection, but he was much more than that as a player. He was a terrific scorer, distributor and maybe the best floor general ever to play at Carolina. He is still third all-time at UNC with 112 games scoring in double figures; had 15 double-doubles (points & assists); shot 52.7 percent from the floor for his career; and was the only player in ACC history with 2,000 points and at least 600 assists until the mid-1990s, still only three players have achieved this.

If only the three-point shot existed during Ford’s career, he might still be UNC’s all-time leading scorer. Ford led the Tar Heels to two ACC Tournament championships and the 1977 national championship game. Ford didn't win a national title, in part because the ’77 team was riddled with injuries, including Ford himself. But him choosing UNC at a time when NC State was in its best run ever and dominating the ACC was instrumental in Dean Smith and Carolina regaining supremacy of the ACC and triggering Smith's greatest run in his legendary career are highly noteworthy in gauging this rankings process.

The value in that decision and the career he had resonated for decades after. If Smith ever would have acknowledged he had a favorite Tar Heel that played for him, it likely would have been Phil Ford. Many say he was the perfect Dean Smith player.

Name: Mitch Kupchak

Position: Forward/Center

Years: 1972-76

Honors: First-team All-America 1976; ACC Player of the Year 1976; Two-time, first-team All-ACC 1975 & 1976; Patterson Medal 1976; National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame; UNC jersey is honored at the Smith Center.

Notable Stats: Kupchak is 29th all-time at UNC with 1,611 career points; Averaged 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game for his UNC career; Ninth highest career field goal percentage at 58.9; Shot 60.2 percent in 1975; ninth all-time at UNC with 1,006 career rebounds; Ninth highest single-season rebounding average ever at UNC with 11.3 in 1976; Averaged a double-double in consecutive seasons in 1975 (18.5 ppg & 10.8 rpg) and 1976 (17.6 ppg & 11.3 rpg), respectively.

In Closing: Another one of Dean Smith’s Olympians in 1976, along with Phil Ford, Walter Davis, and Tommy LaGarde. Kupchak was an outstanding player his last two seasons at UNC. He is only one of four players in Carolina history to average a double-double (points & rebounds) in consecutive seasons. He was the Tar Heel who passed the ball to Walter Davis in 1974 leading to Davis hitting a 25-footer to tie Duke completing a comeback overcoming and eight-point deficit with 17 seconds left. UNC won the game in overtime, and that play is one of the most memorable in program history.

One of the most fundamentally sound players Smith ever coached, Kupchak is probably best remembered for how hard he played. If a stat for floor burns was ever kept, he might be Carolina’s all-time leader. Has had a ton of success winning championships as a player and general manager in the NBA, yet none his four UNC teams ever reached a Final Four. But, the era played a part in that with limited teams participating in the NCAA Tournament, so that shouldn’t take away from Kupchak’s greatness as a Tar Heel.

Name: Walter Davis

Position: Forward

Years: 1973-77

Honors: First-team All-ACC in 1977; All-ACC in 1976; NCAA All-Tournament team 1977; Patterson Medal 1977; Named to ACC’s 50th Anniversary team; UNC jersey is honored at the Smith Center.

Notable Stats: Davis is the 12th all-time leading scorer at UNC with 1,863 points; Career scoring average of 15.7 points per game is the 23rd highest in UNC history; Averaged between 14.3 and 16.6 points per game in each of his four seasons at UNC; Grabbed 670 career rebounds and handed out 409 career assists; Averaged 5.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game over his career; Shot 53.1 percent from the field for his career; 11th most field goals made in a UNC career with 754; Started 115 games.

Davis might be one of the most underrated players in ACC history now and when he played. He is also one of the most consistent players in UNC history. His NBA career was filled with accolades and honors, but he was an afterthought too often at UNC. But Carolina fans will forever remember the 25-footer he hit at the buzzer versus Duke in 1974, sending the game in overtime the Heels eventually won. They will also remember how smooth his game was, how he could hit jumpers from all over the floor, and how if not for an injury in 1977, Dean Smith and UNC might have another national championship.

In the Tar Heels’ run to the national title game, Davis scored 21 points versus Kentucky in the East Region finals, 19 in a win over UNLV in the Final Four, and 20 in the national title game loss to Marquette despite playing with a broken finger. “Sweet D” was a well-rounded player who came up big often when the Tar Heels needed it most. If not for playing with other stars, such as Phil Ford, Davis would be more decorated.

Davis is also UNC Coach Hubert Davis' uncle.