The ACC Basketball Book of Fame. UNC Edition

135 Pages·2013·3.33 MB·English

by  Dan Collins

The ACC Basketball Book of Fame UNC
Edition PUBLISHER’S NOTE
In putting together The ACC Basketball Book of Fame by Dan Collins, we noticed that
the book included a large number of UNC players. We thought Carolina fans might
enjoy a separate e-book that only featured the former Tar Heel players. If reading this
selection piques your interest, you can read about all 79 players in the complete book,
which is available as a hardcover printed book or an e-book.
Also by Dan Collins
Tales from the
Wake Forest Hardwood

1406 Plaza Drive
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27103
www.blairpub.com
Copyright © 2013 by Dan Collins All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
For information address John F. Blair, Publisher, Subsidiary Rights Department, 1406 Plaza Drive,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27103.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Collins, Dan, 1952-
The ACC basketball book of fame / by Dan Collins ; foreword by Dave Odom.
pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-89587-606-5 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-89587-618-8 (ebook) 1. Basketball—Tournaments
—United States—History. 2. Atlantic Coast Conference—History. 3. Basketball—Records—United States
—History. I. Title.
GV885.49.A84C67 2013
796.3230973—dc23
2013013545
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Front cover image: ©Shutterstock.com / B. Calkins; background: psdgraphics.com
Design by Debra Long Hampton
CONTENTS
Foreword by Dave Odom
Introduction
Tyler Zeller
Tyler Hansbrough
Joseph Forte
Antawn Jamison
J. R. Reid
Kenny Smith
Michael Jordan
Sam Perkins
James Worthy
Al Wood
Mike O’Koren
Phil Ford
Mitch Kupchak
Charlie Scott
Larry Miller
Bob Lewis
Billy Cunningham
York Larese
Lee Shaffer
Pete Brennan
Lennie Rosenbluth
The Portico of Prominence
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index
FOREWORD
For six decades, the Atlantic Coast Conference has brought excitement, joy, and
even an occasional tear to fans living within its geographic footprint. While
ACC teams have excelled in nearly every sport, men’s basketball has
unquestionably been the league’s beacon.
Growing up in eastern North Carolina, I learned early on that the best
Christmas gift was a ticket to the legendary Dixie Classic, held in Reynolds
Coliseum on the campus of North Carolina State University. It was there that I
cheered the exploits of my heroes—Ronnie Shavlik, Lennie Rosenbluth, Len
Chappell, Art Heyman—who were coached by some of the game’s best—
Everett Case, Frank McGuire, Bones McKinney, Vic Bubas—as their Tobacco
Road teams conquered national powers daring to visit that historic event.
In the late 1960s, the landscape of college basketball changed, and the ACC
found itself at the forefront for the next two decades. Coaches such as Dean
Smith, Lefty Driesell, Norm Sloan, and Terry Holland fueled the fire of fans and
generated unsurpassed media attention. Outstanding players—Jordan, Bias,
Thompson, Sampson—filled the rosters, and championships became as frequent
as beautiful Southern sunsets. National titles in 1974, 1982, and 1983, National
Players of the Year (10 awards), and national rankings that routinely included
five or six conference teams—more than half the league’s membership—were
celebrated fervently.
The 1980s and 1990s brought leaders such as Mike Krzyzewski, Jim
Valvano, Bobby Cremins, and Gary Williams, as well as more great players—
Laettner, Price, and two of my personal favorites, Childress and Duncan. Over a
19-year span, eight more national championship banners were hung in ACC
arenas.
In no other sport in any other conference has the media been more woven
into the fiber of history than with ACC basketball. Through the written word and
stirring broadcasts long into the night, journalists and colorful commentators
have always been part of ACC lore. Fans revel in the play-by-play calls and
can’t wait until the next day to read their favorite columnist’s analysis of action
on the court and the locker-room aftermath. Television, of course, has played a
key role in the popularity of ACC basketball, first on the regional level, then
throughout the country, helping to make the ACC truly America’s conference.
Few, if any, reporters have covered ACC basketball longer or more capably
than Dan Collins. He came on the scene as an undergraduate student in the days
of the peerless David Thompson and witnessed arguably the greatest game ever
played in the league when N.C. State defeated Maryland in the 1974 ACC
championship game. Dan joined the Winston-Salem Journal staff in 1978 and
has continued to follow closely every aspect of the ACC through portions of five
decades.
In The ACC Basketball Book of Fame, Dan shares his unique perceptions
from a lifetime of covering the country’s premier college basketball conference.
To diehard ACC fans, this volume will prove a treasure chest of the names and
games that have made ACC basketball truly the lifeblood of college sports for
more than half a century.
Dave Odom