Phil Ford

Phil Ford is widely considered to be among the greatest college point guards of all time, and some contend he is still the greatest point guard ever to play in the ACC. He finished his career at Carolina as the all-time leading scorer in school history, with 2,290 points. He also set school and ACC career records for total assists, with 753 (a mark since broken by several other players)

In both his Junior and Senior years, Phil won the ACC Athlete of the Year award, making him one of just a few ACC athletes ever to win the award twice. Phil was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in May 1991. In 2002, he was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men’s basketball team. 

Phil was the second overall pick in the first round of the NBA draft. While being coached by Cotton Fitzsimmons and forming a dynamic backcourt duo with Otis Birdsong which was noticed by many across the league, he was named NBA Rookie of the Year with the Kansas City Kings in 1979. During that season, on February 21, 1979, Ford recorded a career best 22 assists, while also scoring 26 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, and recording 5 steals, in a 133-117 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

In 482 NBA games, Phil scored 5,594 points, an 11.6 average, and had 3,083 assists, an average of 6.4 per game. He retired from the NBA in 1985.