Michael Jordan is synonymous with the University of North Carolina. The spirit of his legacy flows through Chapel Hill. His iconic game-winner to give UNC the 1982 National Championship remains one of the greatest moments in college basketball.
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But despite his iconic career at UNC, Jordan once shocked the world by revealing Chapel Hill wasn’t his preferred destination. The six-time NBA champion instead claimed his utmost desire was to take the hardwood as a UCLA Bruin.
It made sense why UCLA captured Jordan’s heart. They were a giant of college basketball, for one, boasting NBA greats like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton as alumni. They were also coached by the legendary John Wooden. Jordan acknowledged this in an interview with Playboy Magazine in 1992.
Unfortunately, UCLA didn’t express interest in Jordan, which prevented his dream from becoming a reality. Regardless, he never ruled out his interest in UCLA, but the university’s lack of communication with the shooting guard ruined any chance of landing the eventual NBA legend.
He said, “By the time [UCLA] wanted to recruit me, they had heard that I was going to stay close to home, which was not necessarily true.”
Once it was apparent that Jordan wouldn’t be heading to UCLA he pivoted. North Carolina still wasn’t the next option on his list of preferred colleges. He wanted to head to Virginia to play with star big man Ralph Sampson. He even took the initiative to be the one to engage in conversations with the university.
“I wrote to Virginia, but they just sent me back an admission form,” Jordan said. “No one came and watched me.”
North Carolina did what UCLA and Virginia failed to do: show Jordan they wanted him. After he visited the campus, he knew North Carolina was the place for him. He connected deeply with head coach Dean Smith, which transcended the basketball court.
“He was more than a coach – he was my mentor, my teacher, my second father,” Jordan said about Smith following his passing. “Coach was always there for me whenever I needed him and I loved him for it.”
With the way he spoke about him, it’s pretty clear that Jordan loved Coach Smith. But during his first meeting with the man who’d go on to become his mentor, Jordan felt an emotion he didn’t feel often: fear.
Michael Jordan’s first experience meeting Dean Smith
Dean Smith was an excellent coach for multiple reasons. One of them was that he didn’t tolerate any foolishness. As a result, he exuded a no-nonsense energy that Jordan felt during his first encounter with the legendary North Carolina coach.
“Scared. Intimidated. I mean, his reputation preceded him,” Jordan said. “I was pretty nervous about it, but he was easy to talk to. Very knowledgeable. Very caring coach.”
Once Jordan got to know Smith, they instantly bonded. The two were extremely close leading to the coach’s unfortunate death in 2015. Although Smith is gone, Jordan remains committed to the North Carolina basketball program and can be found attending games every so often.
