With the NBA summer season here and so many players trying to earn shots at making rosters in the league, a question was asked to us here at THI about what North Carolina team produced the most NBA players.
So, we did the digging, and the results are interesting. We chose to include players that made ABA teams, since they could have also made NBA squads had they taken that path. Money was part of some decisions back then, of course.
The criteria are simple: A Tar Heel must have made a roster. All but one on this list got into a game. Below are seven UNC teams that had seven or more future NBA players. The rest of Carolina’s clubs, beginning with Dean Smith’s first Final Four team in the 1966-67 season, are also listed below with the number of NBA (and some ABA) players noted.
Of the seven clubs featured, one had nine future NBA players and the other six had seven. Only one of these clubs won a national title and one other reached the NCAA title game. One lost in the Final Four, two reached the Elite Eight before losing, one lost in the Sweet 16, and another fell in the NCAA second round.
More of the breakdown: 12 teams had 6 future NBA players; 14 had 5; eight had 4; four had 3; five had 2; two had 1; and none had zero.
The list:
1991 (Nine)
Eric Montross
Derrick Phelps
Pete Chilcutt
Kevin Salvadori
George Lynch
Hubert Davis
Matt Wenstrom
Clifford Rozier
Rick Fox
Finish: 29-6, ACC Tourney champs; NCAA Final Four
1977 (Seven)
Dudley Bradley
Phil Ford
Walter Davis
Tom LaGarde
Rich Yonakor
Mike O’Koren
John Kuester
Finish: 28-5, ACC 1st place & tourney champs, NCAA title game
1987 (Seven)
Joe Wolf
Kenny Smith
J.R. Reid
Jeff Lebo
Dave Popson
Scott Williams
Steve Bucknall
Finish: 32-4, unbeaten in ACC play, Elite Eight
1989 (Seven)
Jeff Lebo
Steve Bucknall
Pete Chilcutt
J.R. Reid
Hubert Davis
Scott Williams
Rick Fox
Finish: 29-8, ACC tourney champs, NCAA Sweet 16
1994 (Seven)
Eric Montross
Jeff McInnis
Derrick Phelps
Rasheed Wallace
Kevin Salvadori
Jerry Stackhouse
Serge Zwikker
Finish: 28-7, ACC tourney champs, NCAA 2nd round
2009 (Seven)
Tyler Hansbrough
Ty Lawson
Wayne Ellington
Tyler Zeller
Ed Davis
Danny Green
Larry Drew
Finish: 34-4, ACC 1st place, NCAA champions
2012 (Seven)
Kendall Marshall
P.J. Hairston
John Henson
Reggie Bullock
Harrison Barnes
James Michael McAdoo
Tyler Zeller
Finish: 32-6, ACC 1st place, NCAA Elite Eight
The Rest...
1967 - 6 1968 – 5
1969 – 4
1970 – 2
1971 – 2
1972 – 5
1973 – 4
1974 – 6
1975 – 5
1976 – 6
1978 – 6
1979 – 4
1980 – 4
1981 – 3
1982 – 3
1983 – 3
1984 – 6
1985 – 4
1986 – 6
1988 – 6
1990 – 6
1992 – 5
1993 – 5
1995 – 5
1996 – 5
1997 – 5
1998 – 5
1999 – 1
2000 – 2
2001 – 2
2002 – 1
2003 – 5
2004 – 5
2005 – 6
2006 – 3
2007 – 6
2008 – 5
2010 – 6
2011 – 6
2013 – 5
2014 – 4
2015 – 5
2016 – 5
2017 – 4
2018 – 2
2019 – 4
Note: We stopped at 2019 since players from teams since then are still trying to make rosters that haven’t yet.
