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Three of UNC’s favorite basketball stars were honored over the weekend.
R.J. Davis, already ACC Player of the Year and consensus All-American, became the first Tar Heel to win the coveted Jerry West Award for the top shooting guard in college basketball, an accolade presented by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame named for the legendary 14-time NBA All-Star.
His namesake, but no relation, the late, great Walter Davis was elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame for his silky-smooth career in Chapel Hill and as the all-time leading scorer for the Phoenix Suns.
And Vince Carter, the only active player in the NBA for four different decades, joined Sweet D in the Hall of Fame. “Vinsanity” began as an All-American at Carolina where he helped the Tar Heels reach two Final Fours.
The news about all three cheered us up during a bittersweet weekend when we had hoped the 2024 team would return to the Final Four after becoming UNC’s first outright ACC regular season champ since 2017.
R.J. finished his fourth college season with 784 points, the fourth-most at UNC behind all-time leader Tyler Hansbrough’s 882. Davis led the ACC in scoring and set the school record with 113 three-pointers made. He also holds Carolina’s highest free-throw percentage (.858). A nominee for National Player of the Year, Davis is currently deciding whether to take his COVID season like teammates Armando Bacot and Leaky Black did over the last two years and return for the 2024-25 campaign.
Walter “Sweet D” Davis, Hubert’s uncle, has been among the most beloved players in Tar Heel history. He scored 19,521 points in the NBA and 1,863 at UNC. Millions of fans remember his All-ACC senior season when he returned to play in the 1977 NCAA tournament with a broken first finger on his shooting hand and, to show their solidarity, fans tied two fingers together with a light blue ribbon all the way to the Final Four and NCAA championship game in Atlanta.
Like Walter Davis, Carter played for Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith and like “Sweet D” in 1978 went on to be NBA Rookie of the Year (1999). Both won Olympic Gold Medals. Carter totaled 25,728 points and made more than 2,000 three-point shots in the NBA playing for eight teams. He also did so much for Carolina off the court. The generous highflyer donated the money to build Letterman’s Way between Koury Natatorium and the Smith Center lined with plagues that have every UNC basketball letterman engraved.
Three sensational players were honored while we all spent the Final Four weekend with heavy hearts.
Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Thanks for the write up. Carolina has a long and deep legacy in the sports world to go along with high academic quality.
Nowhere else like it.