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.

Bringing Down The Mountaineers

North Carolina played my alma mater Appalachian State and won fairly easily 94-70. This was one of those games that probably never should have been scheduled but they play anyway but as a fan, I really never come out of these games with a good feeling. The Tarheels won by 24 points but it feels like they should have won by 40. The Tarheels ended up being two starters short because Kennedy Meeks is still out and Marcus Paige tweaked his ankle and missed almost the entire second half.

Brice Johnson led the way with 22 points but it seemed like he could have scored 40 if the Tarheels would have force fed it to him inside. Justin Jackson had a double-double as did Joel Berry II. Luke Maye got some valuable playing time off the bench and he has been doing some nice things on the offensive boards. Maye turned that effort into a career high seven points against Appalachian State to go along with five rebounds. As Tarheel alum Rasheed Wallace kept imploring the Tarheel big men from behind the bench last night to "finish at the rim."