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Michael Jordan - The College Days
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
January 18, 1999
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - I'm not sure what else can be said about Michael Jordan that hasn't appeared in some publication in the past 10 days.
Almost every basketball writer and sports columnist in the country wrote about his incredible career and his place in sports history when his retirement from the game finally became official last week.
Most of those stories, however, concerned his time in the NBA. That's understandable when one looks at his 13 years as a professional player - five times the league's MVP, the leader of a Chicago Bull team which won six world championships in eight years with Jordan being the MVP of the NBA Finals on all six occasions, a 12-time selection to the NBA All-Star Team and a nine-time member of the league's all-defensive team.
His 31.5 points-per-game average over 13 seasons is the highest in NBA history. He won a record 10 league scoring titles with career shooting percentages of 50.5 from the field and 83.8 from the foul line.
However, when his three years at North Carolina have been mentioned, it has usually concerned the 1982 NCAA championship game. People have talked about his jumper with 17 seconds left which proved to be the winning points in the Tar Heels' 63-62 victory over Georgetown.
Perhaps, there was no single play as important, but his Carolina career certainly can't be wrapped up in one moment of his freshman season. Jordan had shown flashes of brilliance during his first year, scoring 13.5 points a game and shooting 53.4 percent from the field.
For example, Carolina led Duke by just three points in Durham that season with less than 15 minutes to play when Jordan hit three straight jump shots. Matt Doherty followed with another basket and then Jordan scored again on a tip-in. Duke was forced to take timeout as the Tar Heel lead had gone into double figures. Jordan finished with 13 of his 19 points in the second half as Carolina rallied from a one-point halftime deficit to win, 73-63.
He was an extremely talented player who showed tremendous promise for the future, but he was a freshman and sometimes inconsistent. He followed the Duke game with just six points in a homecourt loss to Wake Forest, one of only two defeats Carolina would suffer in a 32-2 season.
Jordan's biggest scoring games were around midseason, but his all-around play improved constantly throughout the year. This was a team which featured James Worthy and Sam Perkins. He didn't have to carry the scoring load as he did in his early professional years. The areas of improvement which pleased Coach Dean Smith were Jordan's passing and ballhandling, his defense and his moving without the ball.
His work ethic, which became legendary in Chicago, was just as great in Chapel Hill. He was an incredible competitor who played as hard in practice as he did in games. He wanted to be the best at everything he did and understood practice was the key to excellence in basketball.
He opened his sophomore year bigger and stronger than the previous season. However, Carolina staggered to begin the year. Despite 25 points from Jordan and 22 by Perkins, the Tar Heels lost in overtime to St. John's, 78-74, at the Tip-Off Classic. Missouri then edged Carolina, 64-60, in a physical battle at The Checkerdome.
The Tar Heels came to Carmichael Auditorium for the home opener with Tulane, trying not to become the first UNC team since 1928-29 to start the season 0-3. As much as any game, this one defines Michael Jordan.
Perkins fouled out with 4:33 to play and seconds later the game was tied, 47-47. In the closing moments 6-9 Tulane center John Williams gave the Green Wave a 51-49 lead. But Jordan grabbed an offensive rebound away from him to tie the game, 51-51, with 36 seconds left.
However, a pair of free throws by Williams with just eight seconds to go pushed Tulane back up by two. When Jordan was called for an offensive foul on a drive to the basket and four seconds on the clock, Carolina hopes seemed slim.
Tulane got the ball out-of-bounds in front of the Tar Heel bench and Carolina's five defenders blanketed the Green Wave players. When the ball was finally tossed in almost desperately to beat the five-second count, Jordan batted it away, grabbed it and tossed in a 35-footer at the buzzer to force overtime.
The game eventually went three overtimes with neither team ever leading by more than two points until the final five minutes. Then with Carolina holding a 65-63 edge, Jordan drove baseline with 1:48 left, banked in a sensational shot and was fouled. He completed the three-point play for a five-point lead and Carolina escaped with a 70-68 win.
His sophomore season was filled with dynamic performances. With the Tar Heels trailing 57-56 at Tennessee-Chattanooga and only 3:45 on the clock, it was Jordan who scored 11 of his team's final 17 points in a 73-66 comeback win.
In Carolina's Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Maryland, Jordan scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half of a 72-71 victory at Carmichael Auditorium. When Chuckie Driesell broke in the clear off a halfcourt inbounds play it was Jordan who blocked his potential game-winning layup at the buzzer.
Perkins grabbed the headlines in a 101-95 win at second-ranked Virginia with 36 points. But, Jordan had 12 of his 16 points in the second half and made six steals to help offset a late Cavalier rally. Jordan scored 10 of his team's first 20 second half points as the Tar Heels pushed an 11-point halftime lead over Duke to 26 in just over five minutes of action. He finished with 32, hitting 13 of 19 shots from the floor.
Afterwards, Blue Devil Coach Mike Krzyzewski marveled at his effort. "Jordan worked as hard as any player I've seen, especially an excellent player," he said. "He set the tone for the game. He was as tough mentally as ever seen him play.
"He said 'I want it, give it to me, I'm going to work.' He was just excellent. We wanted to play defense on him. We diagrammed and said this is what he's going to do. He still did it. I admire that. Even when he missed shots, he was working so hard to get them. He never gave us a chance to get back into it."
One week later he scored a career-high 39 points in a 72-65 win over Georgia Tech. Jordan hit 11 of 16 shots from the floor, including six of seven three-pointers, and made 11 of 13 free throws.
But, in the game that many Carolina fans remember most, it was Jordan making the big plays down the stretch in a 64-63 victory over Virginia. The top-ranked Tar Heels trailed the third-rated Cavaliers by 16 with 8:43 to play and were still down 10, 63-53, with 4:12 left.
Carolina had cut that margin to 63-60 when Jordan tipped in a missed shot by Jimmy Braddock. Then as Rick Carlisle was bringing the ball upcourt, Jordan flicked the ball away from him and followed with a breakaway dunk. With 51 seconds remaining, the Cavaliers still had time to set up a game-winning play. But, Carlisle's jumper from the key was no good and Jordan out-jumped Ralph Sampson for the rebound as time expired.
After a 24-point performance at Georgia Tech, Yellow Jacket center Tim Harvey simply shook his head in amazement.
"There were times when I looked up and saw Jordan over my head," said Harvey. "It was like watching Superman. Sometimes there's nothing you can do in that situation but stand and look at him."
With the ACC using an experimental three-point shot, Jordan averaged 20.0 points a game. He followed that with an even better junior year with a 19.6 scoring average and a shooting percentage of 55.1.
In Carolina's second ACC game of the year Jordan had 21 points and Perkins 26 and each grabbed 12 rebounds as they sparked a 74-62 win at Maryland. A late scoring run broke open a much closer game and Jordan sealed it with a tomahawk dunk at the buzzer which left Terp Coach Lefty Driesell fuming.
There were plenty of other highlights:
- He scored 24 of 29 points in the second half in a 90-79 win over LSU.
- Jordan hit 11 of 15 from the floor and scored 24 points in an 85-72 victory at Virginia.
- At a "neutral" site in Pine Bluff, Ark., the Tar Heels were beaten by Arkansas, 65-64. It was their first loss of the year after 21 straight wins. Charles Ballentine's layup with four seconds left was the game-winner. Jordan was dynamic down the stretch, scoring UNC's last six points. He finished with 21, hitting nine of 15 from the field.
- He had 32 points on 12 of 18 field goals in a 96-71 homecourt triumph over N.C. State.
- In the return game with Maryland, Jordan hit 10 of 14 shots, scored 25 points and threw down another spectacular dunk, soaring over Ben Coleman. The Terp center did everything possible to prevent the basket, but simply drew a foul and Jordan completed a classic three-point play.
- He had 18 of his 20 points in the second half at Georgia Tech as Carolina roared from a four-point halftime advantage to lead by as many as 23 in the second period. With UNC reserves in down the stretch, the Yellow Jackets made the final score 69-56.
- In what would turn out to be his final home appearance, Jordan scored 25 points in a 96-83 double-overtime victory over Duke. Jordan almost always was at his best in the biggest games. In his three years here he averaged 19.0 points in ACC play. Combining only his sophomore and junior years that figure is 22.9.
In ACC road games over his three seasons of play, Jordan averaged 19.3 points.
After being named National Player of the Year by The Sporting News as a sophomore, he swept all the Player of the Year honors his junior season.
Opposing players knew what they were facing when Michael was on the court.
"Jordan is like James Worthy in that he has that rare sense of where the ball is and where it's going," said Maryland forward Mark Fothergill. "On defense, he roams around like a madman like Worthy used to do, playing the court and causing all kinds of confusion."
Duke's star guard Johnny Dawkins pointed to the cerebral aspect of Jordan's game as the thing that set him apart from others.
"Michael Jordan goes all out," said Dawkins. "Not just physically like he used to, but now he out-thinks you. He's thinking all the time. 'Back door 'em here. Lob to me here. Good defensive play there.'
"Of all the players I've seen and played against, he's the one I'm most impressed with."
These are comments about a college player who never took more than 23 shots in a game in his entire career. Like Carolina players throughout the years he understood basketball was a team game. One man couldn't win a game by himself as became very apparent in his early professional career. It wasn't until the Bulls could surround him with a good supporting cast that they became big winners.
Here he learned the fundamentals of the game - how to play defense, set screens and use them, set up teammates for open shots. He always gave his coaches here credit for that.
However, in a game's closing moments, Jordan was capable of taking things over. The Tar Heels have had plenty of superstars over the years, but there have been a few who have been special in that regard. Larry Miller, Charlie Scott, Phil Ford, Worthy, Antawn Jamison come immediately to mind.
When the game was at stake they wanted the ball. That's not because they were selfish, but because they hated so much to lose, refused to lose. Defeats would gnaw at them. They would not be great company after a loss. An incredible desire to win made them something special.
As Maryland guard Adrian Branch put it after one tight game, "Guarding Michael Jordan is dirty, dirty work."
That competitiveness will make retirement difficult at times for Jordan, I'm sure. But, now there will be a chance for more quality time with his children. Sure, he'll play plenty of golf, still do plenty of endorsements and be involved with his own company.
ut, the special relationship he had with his own parents has made him want to be around his own children more than has been possible with the long NBA season.
Plus, he has walked away from the sport on his own terms. He has not hung on to the game he loves too long like so many other great athletes have done. In my lifetime only a couple of superstars have also retired while at their peak - Sandy Koufax and Jim Brown for example. John Elway may soon join that group.
However, for the few who have done that, there have been dozens who tried to stay too long and seen their skills deteriorate - Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Joe Montana, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Johnny Unitas, Mickey Mantle and almost every great boxer of our time are a few examples.
And what a way for Jordan to end his career - stealing the ball from Karl Malone with the NBA Finals on the line and then hitting the game-winning shot himself on a jumper from inside the key.
ut, it's a good thing he didn't make that play at Carolina. He would be running extra windsprints at the next practice because he committed an unpardonable sin in basketball.
He didn't follow his shot - head for the boards for a possible offensive rebound.
Of course, he didn't need to do that. Like everyone else who was watching, he knew it was good as soon as he released it. It was the time he enjoyed most-- the game in the balance and the ball in his hands. There was no way he was going to miss that shot.
The looks on the faces of the Utah Jazz players and their fans indicated they knew it, too. They knew who had taken the shot and what that meant in clutch situations, just as so many ACC players had known what was coming when they faced him in his career here.
Those of us fortunate enough to have watched him play know we won't soon see anything like him again.
By Rick Brewer
Associate Athletic Director for Sports Information and Communications
