Michael Jordan

On February 17, 1963, American basketball superstar Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York. Before his first birthday, Jordan’s parents moved to Wilmington, where he played three sports at Laney High School and was named to the McDonald’s All-American team.

As a UNC-Chapel Hill freshman, Jordan scored the winning basket in the 1982 NCAA title game. In 1984, he was named College Player of the Year and won the first of two Olympic gold medals (the other was in 1992) with the U.S. men’s basketball team. After his junior year at Carolina, Jordan entered the NBA draft and was picked by the Chicago Bulls.

"Air Jordans" in Chicago Bulls colors,
now held by the N.C. Museum of History

His high-scoring, high-flying antics quickly made “Air Jordan” an international sports celebrity and marketing marvel. After leading the Bulls to three consecutive NBA championships, Jordan unexpectedly retired in 1993 to pursue a career in baseball. He rejoined the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three more NBA titles before retiring again in 1999. After a two-year hiatus, Jordan returned to basketball, playing with the Washington Wizards. He retired for the final time in 2003. Now the primary owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, Jordan is still widely regarded as the best basketball player of all time.

First Team - 1910-11

North Carolina played its first basketball game against Virginia Christian, on January 27, 1911, a 42–21 win for North Carolina. In 1921, North Carolina joined the Southern Conference. The 1924 Tar Heels squad went 26–0 and was retroactively awarded the national championship by the Helms Athletic Foundation in 1936. Overall, the Tar Heels played 32 seasons in the Southern Conference from 1921 to 1953. During that period they won 304 games and lost 111 for a winning percentage of 73.3%. The Tar Heels were winners of the regular season for nine times and won the Southern Conference Championships eight times.

"MJ"

During the summer before Michael Jordan’s senior year in high school in Wilmington, NC, he attended the nationally renowned Five-Star Basketball Camp, where he met UNC’s head basketball coach Dean Smith. Smith began recruiting Michael to play for the Tar Heels, and in November of 1980 MJ signed a letter of intent to attend UNC. In 1981 Michael Jordan accepted a full basketball scholarship from the University of North Carolina, in the state where he was raised. Michael was only the fourth freshman to earn a starting spot under Coach Smith.

Streaks

In the history of college basketball, the Tar Heels have appeared in either the NCAA Tournament or National Invitation Tournament (NIT) every year from 1967 to 2001. This includes 27 straight appearances in the NCAA tourney from 1975 to 2001—the longest such streak in tournament history.

The Tar Heels also notched 37 straight winning seasons from 1964 to 2001, the third-longest such streak in NCAA history, behind UCLA's streak of 54 consecutive winning seasons from 1948 to 2001, and Syracuse's currently active streak of 39 seasons from 1971 to date.

The Tar Heels also finished .500 or better for 39 years in a row from 1962 (Dean Smith's second year) to 2001, the third-longest such streak in NCAA history.

Hard Work!

Coach Williams says, "We put our hands in and chant something my teams have been saying since I was North Carolina's junior varsity coach: Hard work! It's something I've believed in since I was a kid shoveling snow off the basketball court so I could practice or selling calendars or going right back out on the recruiting trail after winning a national title. The phrase is a reminder that nobody is going to outwork us. I think it pulls our guys together and gives them strength. It is what the players chant when they huddle for any timeout or any deadball. It's a constant reminder: Hard work!"