Patterson Medal Winners
Davis, Walter
Walter Davis
- Induction:
- 1977
- Class:
- 1977
1977— Walter Davis: Men’s Basketball (Pineville, N.C.)
One of the finest shooting small forwards to play for the Tar Heels. Member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Two-time All-ACC (second team in 1976, first team in 1977). Olympic gold medalist in 1976 under head coach Dean Smith.
Scored 1,863 points, grabbed 670 rebounds and had 409 assists as a Tar Heel. Scored 31 points in 1975 ACC quarterfinal against Wake Forest, then held NC State star David Thompson to 7 of 21 shooting in Carolina’s championship game victory. When he finished his career, he had the most assists by a Tar Heel (409) and had the 12th-highest scoring average in UNC history.
Made a 25-foot shot off the glass to tie the game, capping the famous “eight-points in 17 seconds” comeback against Duke on March 2, 1974. Carolina trailed 86-78 but tied the game on Davis’s shot and won, 96-92, in overtime. As a freshman, Davis scored a career-high 31 points on 14 of 21 from the floor and had six rebounds and five assists in the overtime win over the Blue Devils. Matched his career scoring high in the 1975 ACC Tournament quarterfinal vs. Wake Forest. Averaged 20 points, despite playing with a broken finger on his shooting hand, in his final three games as a Tar Heel against Kentucky, UNLV and Marquette in the 1977 NCAA East final and Final Four.
NBA Rookie of the Year with Phoenix in 1978. Five-time NBA All-Star. The Phoenix Suns retired his No. 6. He was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2024.
His nephew, Hubert, played at UNC from 1988-92 and was named UNC’s head coach in 2021.
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One of the finest shooting small forwards to play for the Tar Heels. Member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Two-time All-ACC (second team in 1976, first team in 1977). Olympic gold medalist in 1976 under head coach Dean Smith.
Scored 1,863 points, grabbed 670 rebounds and had 409 assists as a Tar Heel. Scored 31 points in 1975 ACC quarterfinal against Wake Forest, then held NC State star David Thompson to 7 of 21 shooting in Carolina’s championship game victory. When he finished his career, he had the most assists by a Tar Heel (409) and had the 12th-highest scoring average in UNC history.
Made a 25-foot shot off the glass to tie the game, capping the famous “eight-points in 17 seconds” comeback against Duke on March 2, 1974. Carolina trailed 86-78 but tied the game on Davis’s shot and won, 96-92, in overtime. As a freshman, Davis scored a career-high 31 points on 14 of 21 from the floor and had six rebounds and five assists in the overtime win over the Blue Devils. Matched his career scoring high in the 1975 ACC Tournament quarterfinal vs. Wake Forest. Averaged 20 points, despite playing with a broken finger on his shooting hand, in his final three games as a Tar Heel against Kentucky, UNLV and Marquette in the 1977 NCAA East final and Final Four.
NBA Rookie of the Year with Phoenix in 1978. Five-time NBA All-Star. The Phoenix Suns retired his No. 6. He was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2024.
His nephew, Hubert, played at UNC from 1988-92 and was named UNC’s head coach in 2021.
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