University of North Carolina Athletics
Hansbrough, Pope Elected To NC Sports Hall Of Fame
January 5, 2026 | General, Men's Basketball, Men's Soccer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A pair of former Tar Heel standouts – men's basketball forward Tyler Hansbrough and men's soccer defender Eddie Pope – are two of 11 newly elected members of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.
They will be inducted on May 1, 2026, in Greensboro. Ticket information for the ceremony will be announced at a later date.
Hansbrough and Pope are members of the NCSHOF Class of 2026 with Chip Beck (golf), Heather Bergsma (speed skating), Louis Breeden (football), Leonard Hamilton (college basketball coach), Richard Huntley (football), John Isner (tennis), Norvell Lee (high school & college basketball coach), Kelvin Sampson (college basketball coach) and Jerry Winterton (high school wrestling coach).
Hansbrough, already a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, was the 2008 National and Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, led UNC to the 2009 NCAA championship, is the ACC's all-time leading scorer and the only four-time first-team All-America and All-ACC player in league history.
He scored 2,872 points in leading the Tar Heels to a 120-22 record from 2005-09. He is Carolina's all-time leading scorer in NCAA Tournament play, where he ranks fourth in scoring behind only Christian Laettner, Elvin Hayes and Danny Manning.
A native of Poplar Bluff, Mo., who has resided in Chapel Hill for 20 years, Hansbrough became the first college basketball player to earn first-team All-America honors in each of his four seasons since the 1940s.
Pope is one of the most honored men's soccer players in the United States. A native of High Point, where he attended SW Guilford High School, Pope played for the Tar Heels from 1992-95 before embarking on a 12-year career in Major League Soccer.
Pope played in 82 games over 11 years with the United States Men's National Team, including the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, where he started all five games for the USMNT.
Pope was a two-time first-team All-ACC selection (1994, 1995), earned first-team All-America honors in 1994 and was named one of the top 50 players in ACC history. He was the No. 2 pick in the 1996 MLS Draft.
Pope was a five-time MLS all-star, earned MLS Best 11 honors four times and was selected to the MLS All-Time Best 11 team. He scored the game-winning goal for D.C. United four minutes into overtime in the first MLS Cup in 1997, helped DC United win the CONCACAF Champions Cup and InterAmerican Cup in 1998, when he scored in both finals, won a CONCACAF Gold Cup and won MLS Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors in 1997.
Hansbrough was elected to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot, while Pope was elected in his second year.
They are the 68th and 69th former Tar Heel players, coaches and staff elected to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.
Hansbrough is the 20th UNC men's basketball player or coach selected to the NCSHOF, while Pope is the second men's soccer player elected.
UNC MEMBERS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA SPORTS HALL OF FAME
Baseball: Scott Bankhead, Mike Fox, Bunn Hearn, Clyde King, Walter Rabb, Danny Talbott, Burgess Whitehead
Men's Basketball: Pete Brennan, Jack Cobb, Brad Daugherty, Walter Davis, Phil Ford, Bill Guthridge, Tyler Hansbrough, Antawn Jamison, Bobby Jones, Michael Jordan, Bob McAdoo, Monk McDonald, Bones McKinney, Julius Peppers, Lennie Rosenbluth, Lee Shaffer, Dean Smith, Jerry Stackhouse, Roy Williams, James Worthy
Women's Basketball: Sylvia Hatchell, Charlotte Smith
Field Hockey: Karen Shelton
Football: George Barclay, Rod Broadway, Jason Brown, Mack Brown, Kelvin Bryant, Bill Dooley, Greg Ellis, Lee Gliarmis Sr., Dee Hardison, Ken Huff, Charlie Justice, Don McCauley, Paul Miller, Julius Peppers, Ed Sutton, Art Weiner, John Swofford, Danny Talbott
Men's Golf: Chuck Erickson, Raymond Floyd, Davis Love III, Harvie Ward
Women's Golf: Donna Andrews, Page Marsh
Men's Soccer: Lee Gliarmis Sr., Eddie Pope
Women's Soccer: Anson Dorrance, Carla (Werden) Overbeck
Women's Swimming: Sue Walsh
Men's Tennis: Marshall Happer, Allen Morris, Don Skakle
Women's Tennis: Laura Dupont
Men's Track and Field/Cross Country: Jim Beatty, Dennis Craddock, Bob Fetzer, Floyd Simmons, Tony Waldrop, Harry Williamson
Women's Track and Field/Cross Country: Dennis Craddock
Radio: Woody Durham
Sports Information: Bob Quincy, Jake Wade
Media Alumni: Smith Barrier, Furman Bisher, Hugh Morton, Lenox Rawlings, Irwin Smallwood
They will be inducted on May 1, 2026, in Greensboro. Ticket information for the ceremony will be announced at a later date.
Hansbrough and Pope are members of the NCSHOF Class of 2026 with Chip Beck (golf), Heather Bergsma (speed skating), Louis Breeden (football), Leonard Hamilton (college basketball coach), Richard Huntley (football), John Isner (tennis), Norvell Lee (high school & college basketball coach), Kelvin Sampson (college basketball coach) and Jerry Winterton (high school wrestling coach).
Hansbrough, already a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, was the 2008 National and Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, led UNC to the 2009 NCAA championship, is the ACC's all-time leading scorer and the only four-time first-team All-America and All-ACC player in league history.
He scored 2,872 points in leading the Tar Heels to a 120-22 record from 2005-09. He is Carolina's all-time leading scorer in NCAA Tournament play, where he ranks fourth in scoring behind only Christian Laettner, Elvin Hayes and Danny Manning.
A native of Poplar Bluff, Mo., who has resided in Chapel Hill for 20 years, Hansbrough became the first college basketball player to earn first-team All-America honors in each of his four seasons since the 1940s.
Pope is one of the most honored men's soccer players in the United States. A native of High Point, where he attended SW Guilford High School, Pope played for the Tar Heels from 1992-95 before embarking on a 12-year career in Major League Soccer.
Pope played in 82 games over 11 years with the United States Men's National Team, including the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, where he started all five games for the USMNT.
Pope was a two-time first-team All-ACC selection (1994, 1995), earned first-team All-America honors in 1994 and was named one of the top 50 players in ACC history. He was the No. 2 pick in the 1996 MLS Draft.
Pope was a five-time MLS all-star, earned MLS Best 11 honors four times and was selected to the MLS All-Time Best 11 team. He scored the game-winning goal for D.C. United four minutes into overtime in the first MLS Cup in 1997, helped DC United win the CONCACAF Champions Cup and InterAmerican Cup in 1998, when he scored in both finals, won a CONCACAF Gold Cup and won MLS Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors in 1997.
Hansbrough was elected to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot, while Pope was elected in his second year.
They are the 68th and 69th former Tar Heel players, coaches and staff elected to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.
Hansbrough is the 20th UNC men's basketball player or coach selected to the NCSHOF, while Pope is the second men's soccer player elected.
UNC MEMBERS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA SPORTS HALL OF FAME
Baseball: Scott Bankhead, Mike Fox, Bunn Hearn, Clyde King, Walter Rabb, Danny Talbott, Burgess Whitehead
Men's Basketball: Pete Brennan, Jack Cobb, Brad Daugherty, Walter Davis, Phil Ford, Bill Guthridge, Tyler Hansbrough, Antawn Jamison, Bobby Jones, Michael Jordan, Bob McAdoo, Monk McDonald, Bones McKinney, Julius Peppers, Lennie Rosenbluth, Lee Shaffer, Dean Smith, Jerry Stackhouse, Roy Williams, James Worthy
Women's Basketball: Sylvia Hatchell, Charlotte Smith
Field Hockey: Karen Shelton
Football: George Barclay, Rod Broadway, Jason Brown, Mack Brown, Kelvin Bryant, Bill Dooley, Greg Ellis, Lee Gliarmis Sr., Dee Hardison, Ken Huff, Charlie Justice, Don McCauley, Paul Miller, Julius Peppers, Ed Sutton, Art Weiner, John Swofford, Danny Talbott
Men's Golf: Chuck Erickson, Raymond Floyd, Davis Love III, Harvie Ward
Women's Golf: Donna Andrews, Page Marsh
Men's Soccer: Lee Gliarmis Sr., Eddie Pope
Women's Soccer: Anson Dorrance, Carla (Werden) Overbeck
Women's Swimming: Sue Walsh
Men's Tennis: Marshall Happer, Allen Morris, Don Skakle
Women's Tennis: Laura Dupont
Men's Track and Field/Cross Country: Jim Beatty, Dennis Craddock, Bob Fetzer, Floyd Simmons, Tony Waldrop, Harry Williamson
Women's Track and Field/Cross Country: Dennis Craddock
Radio: Woody Durham
Sports Information: Bob Quincy, Jake Wade
Media Alumni: Smith Barrier, Furman Bisher, Hugh Morton, Lenox Rawlings, Irwin Smallwood
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