Thursday, January 7, 2016

My Top Ten List- Basketball- Part IV

7. Jerry Stackhouse- Although Jerry Stackhouse only played two seasons in Chapel Hill, those two seasons left a lasting impression. Who can ever forget his "up and under" dunk against Duke where he drove right by Cherokee Parks and either Meeks or Newton and slammed it home. He scored over 1000 points in those two seasons and left behind more highlight reel dunks than ESPN could show in an hour. Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace paired to be the "Young Guns" while at North Carolina and they came in together and they left together. Stackhouse and Wallace were at the leading edge of college players turning pro early in droves. I also remember the last game of their college careers, a loss in the NCAA tournament to Boston College. When it comes to North Carolina basketball, you can only wonder what might have been when it comes to players leaving early.

8. Kenny Smith- Kenny earned the nickname "The Jet" while at North Carolina because of his speed and he could really get up and down the court. What I remember most about his career was the game against LSU towards the end of his freshman season in 1983-84 where he broke his wrist. North Carolina was in the process of putting LSU away in a game LSU had lead for the most part but North Carolina had some serious talent on that team- Michael Jordan, Brad Daugherty, Sam Perkins, and Smith. North Carolina held down the number one ranking for much of that season. Smith stole the ball from John Tudor of LSU and corralled it at about half court and was going in for the breakaway dunk. Tudor clotheslined Smith right after he left the ground and Smith came down hard on his wrist and broke it. Jordan was so incensed by Tudor's cheap shot, he went after him under the basket. UNC went on to lose to Indiana in the NCAA Tournament that season in what would be Jordan's final game at North Carolina. I always felt that when Smith broke his wrist that season and missed eight games, it messed up the balance that North Carolina had and cost them a great chance at another national championship.

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