6/18/2019 basketball Edit

Wisconsin: Joe Wolf

Joe Wolf was an important figure on some outstanding UNC teams in the 1980s before venturing into the NBA. (Chapelboro.com)

Andrew Jones • TarHeelIllustrated

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Andrew Jones has covered sports for 26 years, including all major college & professional sports for daily newspapers & national sites. He's done radio and TV & is entering his seventh year at THI.

Joe Wolf played on two of the best basketball teams ever at North Carolina. He served in a solid reserve role as a freshman on the first one and was perhaps the second best player as a senior on the other. Not a star, Wolf still had a really nice career at UNC.

Neither of those teams won a national championship, however. In fact, neither got to a Final Four or even won an ACC Tournament title. But that doesn’t take away from Wolf’s individual performance over four seasons as a Tar Heel.

A native of Kohler, WI, Wolf averaged 9.6 points and 5.5 rebounds for his career. He shot 55.1 percent from the field and his best season was as a senior when he scored 15.2 points and pulled down 7.1 rebounds per game. Wolf was first-team All-ACC as a senior. He also averaged in double figures as a junior scoring 10 points per contest.

For his career, Wolf scored 1,231 points, grabbed 707 rebounds, handed out 243 assists, blocked 39 shots and 84 steals.

Wolf played on two UNC teams (1984 & 1987) that went unbeaten in ACC play. In his four seasons, the Tar Heels went 115-22 overall, including 47-9 in ACC play.

To some people, his time at UNC may be about the Heels missing out on hanging more banners, but he took away something more important from his experiences. Playing for and learning from Dean Smith has shaped Wolf’s life, first as a player and now as a coach.

Wolf with the Denver Nuggets in 1991. (Getty Images)

“Every day we were taught about offense and defense, but also a thought of the day about life. Those teachings for four years were impactful,” Wolf told the Sheboygan Press in 2017. “I learned under Coach Smith his coaching philosophy, but even more important he helped us grow and be fine young men.”

Wolf was the No. 13 player selected in the first round of the 1987 NBA draft. He played for eight teams in 11 seasons finishing his career having averaged 4.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest. Wolf played in 592 games, scored 2,485 points, pulled down 1,933 rebounds, handed out 596 assists, blocked 131 shots, picked up 257 steals and shot 42.3 percent from the field.

Interestingly, in 2005, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel named Wolf the greatest high school basketball player ever in the state of Wisconsin.

Wolf has been an assistant coach at the college level and a variety of professional leagues, including the NBA. He is currently the head coach of the Greensboro Storm of the G League.

Since there is no representative from Wyoming, this ends our series.