Every legend starts somewhere, and for Michael Jordan, those developmental years were held inside the walls of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Upon being recruited by several basketball programs, Jordan entered the now-famous university on a basketball scholarship. It was here, he began as a freshman playing for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels Men’s Basketball team.
The Shot that Changed Everything
Under the guidance of coaching legend, Dean Smith, Jordan entered during Smith’s twenty-third season as the head coach. Despite being a freshman, Smith kept his eyes on ‘Mike Jordan’ – as he was called back then – with great expectations that the kid would become something special.
This was evident in his first year alone, where Jordan displayed extreme excellence in the game, averaging 13.4 points per game (ppg) and a 53.4% shooting (field goal percentage). In that same year, Jordan was named the ACC Freshman of the Year. Despite the spotlight being on key players James Worthy and Sam Perkins – other NBA greats – Jordan’s presence became more and more known.
This became especially apparent when Jordan sunk the game-winning shot for the 1982 NCAA Championship, with only 17 seconds remaining. That shot alone, not only beat the team of Georgetown Hoyas by 63-62 – which was led by Jordan’s future NBA rival, Patrick Ewing – it also won the Tar Heels their second NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship, 25 years since their first one. That single shot alone was the turning point in Jordan’s career, and was the beginning of the legend ‘Michael Jordan.’
“Up until that point, nobody knew who I was. I was a college kid other than the university, and I was just known as Mike Jordan. When I hit that shot, my whole name became Michael Jordan. I think it resonated with a lot of people outside of UNC. I started pilling on that name itself from the successes that I endured throughout the rest of my career. It wasn’t about Mike, and it was more about Michael”
A Break Down of Jordan’s College Stats
Despite being the beginning, Jordan’s three-season career with the Tar Heels was unprecedented, filled with amazing feats and achievements.
In his first season alone, Jordan averaged 13.5 points, 1.8 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game. Although they weren’t the greatest stats seen, this left Jordan plenty of room for improvement. Playing 34 games in total during his first season, Jordan scored 191 field goals with .534 field goal percentage and a free-throw accuracy of .722 %. Although many like to believe Jordan was born great, coach Smith had expressed Jordan to be inconsistent during his freshman years.
| Player | GP | FG | FG% | 3FG | 3FG% | FT | FT% | REB | AVG | PF | A | TO | BL | ST | PTS | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Jordan | 36 | 282-527 | 0.535 | 34-76 | 0.447 | 123-167 | 0.737 | 197 | 5.5 | 110 | 56 | 76 | 28 | 78 | 721 | 20 |
Into his second season, Jordan showed little statistical improvement, averaging 20 points, 1.6 assists, 2.2 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game. Yet, regardless of how others thought or said, he continued to work hard, never giving in to the pressure. It is this insane work ethic that Dean Smith noticed in Jordan, and what he believed would truly shape him into a great player.
| Player | GP | FG | FG% | 3FG | 3FG% | FT | FT% | REB | AVG | PF | A | TO | BL | ST | PTS | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Jordan | 36 | 282-527 | 0.535 | 34-76 | 0.447 | 123-167 | 0.737 | 197 | 5.5 | 110 | 56 | 76 | 28 | 78 | 721 | 20 |
“He was one of the most competitive [players] we’ve ever had in our drills. He wanted to get better and then he had the ability to get better.”
Dean Smith on Michael Jordan’s work ethic
In his third and final season in college, Jordan recorded averages of 19.6 points, 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. Scoring about 241 field goals with a percentage of .551, his free-throw accuracy sat at .779%.
| Player | GP | FG | FG% | FT | FT% | REB | AVG | PF | A | TO | BL | ST | PTS | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Jordan | 31 | 247-448 | 0.551 | 113-145 | 0.779 | 163 | 5.3 | 70 | 64 | 67 | 35 | 50 | 607 | 19.6 |
Awards and Accolades in UNC
Besides winning the above mentioned ACC Rookie of the Year award, Jordan also accumulated quite a lot of accolades in the remaining years as a Tar Heel.
At the conclusion of his sophomore year, Jordan managed to get the achievement of most points scored by a sophomore (721 over 36 total games) leading the team with Sam Perkins. They came to be known as the top pair in UNC history.
In both 1983 and 1984, Jordan went on to collect even more achievements, as he was picked as the NCAA College Player of the Year. In his final year, before being selected by the Chicago Bulls, Jordan won the prestigious awards of John R. Wooden Award and Dr. James Naismith Award in 1984.
Other awards won in 1983-1984 include:
- Adolph Rupp Trophy
- USBWA College Player of the Year
- AP College Basketball Player of the Year
- ACC Athlete of the Year
- ACC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year
Becoming Air Jordan
By his third year in college, Jordan entered the 1984 NBA Draft and became the third overall pick for the Chicago Bulls. It was here, the rise of Air Jordan truly began and the rest – as we all know it – is history.
Decades since those early years playing for the UNC, Nike has released countless sneakers that tip their hat to the legend. The release of Air Jordan 3 Retro UNC (2020) is another silhouette that pays homage to those past years where the kid in white and blue became the Michael Jordan.