“Michael Jordan Was the Best 6ft 4′ Player I had Ever Seen”: Roy Williams Saw an 18-year-old MJ and Knew His Ceiling Before He Grew a Couple More Inches

Akash Murty | 13/01/2023
"Michael Jordan Was the Best 6ft 4' Player I had Ever Seen": Roy Williams Saw an 18-year-old MJ and Knew His Ceiling Before He Grew a Couple More Inches

Michael Jordan attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he played college basketball for the Tar Heels. The then 6ft 4’ guard was an excellent player with an all-round skill who looked NBA-ready the moment he first came in wearing those UNC uniforms.

Jordan played college basketball from 1981-1984. After three seasons at UNC, he declared for the NBA Draft and was selected third overall by the Chicago Bulls in 1984.

However, he was seriously talented even when he was in high school trying out for colleges. And when the then assistant coach of UNC saw him, he knew he had “seen the best 6-foot-4-inch player ever.”

Also read: Michael Jordan College Stats: Breaking down 6ft 6″ Bulls’ Legends Numbers Before NBA Debut

Roy Williams knew Michael Jordan would be great when he was 18

Dean Smith might have been the Head Coach of the James Worthy-Michael Jordan-led college team, but the man who was responsible for recruiting them both was Roy Williams.

When the 3x NCAA champion, the former HC coach of Kansas (1988–2003) and UNC (2003–2021) joined Dan Patrick’s Show, Dan asked him how he felt about MJ joining the NBA in 1984 and not earlier.

Although he started off by saying that Jordan was “the best 6-foot-4-inch player I had ever seen,” he did clear the air around Smith stopping MJ from going pro earlier than he did.

Also read: Floyd Mayweather Tells Scottie Pippen That Michael Jordan and the Bulls Would not Have won Without him

Jordan’s success as a college player

Michael Jordan was also a two-time consensus first-team All-American (1983, 1984), and the 1983 ACC Player of the Year. As a freshman, he won NCAA championships with the team in 1982 playing second fiddle to James Worthy but had famously hit the go-ahead shot in the Finals.

Later, in his last year, he won the NCAA College Player of the Year in 1984, winning most of the top college accolades possible. He then went on to the NBA, and as the great Roy Williams said, became 10x better every few years to own that GOAT title for himself in 15 years of NBA Basketball.

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
Dean Smith Michael Jordan roy williams University of North Carolina

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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