NCAA Basketball: 25 best recruiting classes since 2000
By Brian Rauf
12) 2005 North Carolina Tar Heels
The 2005 Tar Heels class surprisingly kept the program at the top of the ACC early on in their careers and ended it with a national championship.
Following the departures of many key players from Roy Williams, Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, Marcus Ginyard and Bobby Frasor were all forced into significant roles as freshmen – and it worked. They won 23 games, finished second in the ACC and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
It was also the last time they didn’t win a championship of any kind.
Over the next three seasons, North Carolina would reel in three ACC regular-season titles, two ACC Tournament titles, three Elite Eight appearances, two Final Fours and a national championship in 2009.
Hansbrough led the way and produced one of the most illustrious collegiate careers ever. He was a four-time consensus All-American (three-time First-Team) and was named National Player of the Year as a junior.
Green was a great sixth man (he didn’t start more than one game in a season until he was a senior), Ginyard was the defensive specialist and Frasor saw his role reduced once Ty Lawson stepped on campus.
Perhaps the most revered accomplishment of this group by the North Carolina fan base? They didn’t lose a game to Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.