Tyler Hansbrough was a highly recruited college basketball prospect as a Missouri State high school student who won two men’s basketball state championships. After considering basketball scholarship offers from numerous storied basketball programs, such as Duke University, the University of Kansas, and the University of Kentucky, Tyler ultimately decided to play basketball for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels ( UNC).
When Tyler arrived at the Chapel Hill, North Carolina campus, he was greeted by celebrity head coach Roy Williams. Coach Williams made a name for himself as a long-respected basketball head coach at the University of Kansas before returning to his alma mater in 2003 as the head coach at UNC. Shortly after returning to the university from which he graduated in 1972, Roy Williams won his first national championship with the Tar Heels in 2005. Over the course of Tyler’s four years at UNC, Hansbrough and Roy Williams formed such a close bond. close like any other athlete. and coach can have. When Hansbrough removed his jersey in February 2010 before a UNC vs. Duke rivalry game, the ceremony brought coach Williams to tears.
As a freshman on the UNC Tar Heels basketball team, Tyler made an immediate impact. The star freshman finished the season as the second-leading scorer in the Atlantic Coach Conference (ACC) when trailing only Duke’s JJ Redick, a player who would set the all-time ACC record for points scored in 2006 before Hansbrough I would. he then tore it up in 2009. For his efforts, Tyler was not only voted conference freshman of the year, but also became the first player to be selected as a unanimous first-team All ACC pick as a First year student. The Sporting News even made Tyler a first-team All-American after his freshman season.
Tyler would play three more seasons and be named to first-team All-American lists for each of his four years. Despite being recognized after his junior season in 2007-2008 as the national player of the year, Tyler decided to forgo the NBA Draft and return for his senior season in hopes of winning an elusive national championship under coach Roy Williams. . On April 6, 2009, Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Williams achieved their goal by winning a national championship together when they defeated Michigan State University in a game played in Detroit, Michigan.
