North Carolina Basketball: Looking back at the 1997-98 season after 20 years

The Year of ‘Tawn

North Carolina has a tradition of putting the jerseys of achieving players into the rafters. Most of those jerseys are ‘honored’ but there are several in the front row that are outright retired. The Dean Smith Era provided four of the eight jerseys that sit there. They are Phil Ford (#12), James Worthy (#52), Michael Jordan (#23), and Antawn Jamison (#33). Technically, Jamison did the work that got him there under Guthridge in 1998, though.

Jamison finished up his college career by going for 22 points and almost 11 rebounds per game. He was something of a human pogo stick around the rim and seemed to find almost impossible angles to correct missed shots. He also had a variety of unorthodox finishers and floaters to get around defenders. He could dunk and did, but never to the fame that Carter established.

Jamison did not carry the team alone, but he stood out nonetheless. The Charlotte native was rewarded with the ACC Player of the Year, then the First Team All-America, and then the National Player of the Year Award. It was that final one that put his jersey in the forefront of the rafters.

Jamison would enter the professional ranks the next year. His pro career was colored by the fact that he was a man without a position. He played small forward early on and even displayed a 3-point jump shot that had not gotten much use at Carolina. He made two All-Star teams and won a Sixth Man of the Year Award. Later in his career, he finally saw use as a stretch four, a position closer to what his skill set was.