63. Tar Heels Great Phil Ford

In 1975, the University of North Carolina basketball team was being led by two men... A 44 year old coach named Dean Smith, and a 19 year old Freshman Point Guard by the name of Phil Ford. The two of them were about to change the program forever. The ACC tournament was Ford's coming out party as he averaged 26 points a game and was named the MVP of the conference tourney as he helped the Tar Heels shock David Thompson and the defending champion Wolfpack in the finals to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Ford would go from there to have one of the greatest four years in UNC basketball history finishing as the school's all-time leading scorer. As it turns out, this kid was golden as well. Playing for Smith again, he guided Team USA to a Gold Medal win in the 1976 Olympics. His junior season he led the Heels to the Final Four and the title game as a consensus first team All-American and in his final season, he once again was a first team All-American before winning the coveted John R. Wooden Award given out to college basketball's top player. When he was done, #12 would hang from the rafters and he still to this day is the #4 all-time leading scorer in North Carolina basketball history. An eye injury would derail his promising NBA career which started as the #2 pick of the Kansas City Kings. He would finish his first year as the NBA Rookie of the Year and was well on his way to a long professional career before his vision was forever altered. His playing days over, Ford would return to Chapel Hill in 1988 as an assistant coach under Dean Smith and in 1993 was on his staff for Smith's 2nd national title and first since another freshman sensation by the name of Michael Jordan won it all in 1982 for the Tar Heels. Ford would stay with Smith until he retired and then another three seasons before leaving in 2000. He tells us on the Past Our Prime podcast how much he loved and admired Coach Smith and how his spiritual guidance may have saved his life. He talks about that sensational ACC Tournament that in 1975 that led him to being on the cover of Sports Illustrated and how a year later he was one of 4 UNC players to bring home an Olympic gold medal for the USA. And he talks about the famous "Four Corners" offense that Coach Smith came up with, and Ford helped him perfect. Before there was an Air Jordan, there was Phil Ford... the best point guard in the University of North Carolina's history and one of the best ever to do it... and he shares his insights and stories with us on Past Our Prime. Download and listen wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices