One of the greatest Tar Heels to ever grace a basketball court, UNC’s Antawn Jamison received a high honor this month. Jamison and seven other college basketball legends were enshrined into the College Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Jamison played three years for Carolina, from 1995-97 under head coach Dean Smith and 1997-98 under head coach Bill Guthridge, following Smith’s retirement. He immediately made an impact his freshman season, averaging 15 points per game, shooting 62.4 percent and starting 29 of 32 games for UNC.
The following year, Jamison and teammates Vince Carter and Shammond Williams led the Tar Heels to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and an appearance in the 1997 Final Four. Jamison’s scoring improved to 19.1 points per game.
Jamison’s junior season of 1997-98 quickly made him a Carolina legend. In the Tar Heels’ first season with Guthridge at the helm, Jamison exploded for 22.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. With a returning core of Jamison, Carter and Williams, UNC ascended to the No. 1 ranking with a 17-0 start to the season. Jamison scored 35 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in a win for No. 2 Carolina over No. 1 Duke in the Smith Center, a performance still remembered as one of the most electric in UNC history. Powered by Jamison, the Tar Heels finished the regular season 27-3, won the ACC Tournament, earned a second consecutive No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and appeared in the Final Four once again.
For the 1997-98 season, Jamison was named the ACC Player of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP, a first-team All-American and the consensus 1997-98 National Player of the Year by all six major awards, becoming the 10th Tar Heel to win National Player of the Year honors. Jamison was also named a first-team All-ACC performer for all three of his years in Chapel Hill. He declared for the NBA Draft after the 1997-98 season, and was selected No. 4 overall. Carter followed him at No. 5.
Jamison’s No. 33 jersey was retired by the basketball program in 2000. It is currently one of only eight jerseys to be retired by the team.
A fellow member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2021 may be a familiar name to Tar Heel fans: the late Maryland legend Len Bias, who competed against Smith’s UNC teams from 1982-86.
Featured image via Keeping It Heel
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