Phil Ford

Phil Jackson Ford Jr. (born February 9, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He graduated from Rocky Mount Senior High School in 1974, and had an All-American college career with the North Carolina Tar Heels. College career Ford was the first freshman under head basketball coach Dean Smith to start in his first collegiate basketball game. During the season, he averaged 16.4 points and 5.2 assists per game – both of which were UNC freshman records that would stand for more than 20 years. Ford led UNC to a second-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season standings, and then to a championship win over NC State in the 1975 ACC tournament. This win broke N.C. State's two-year winning streak as ACC champions. Ford averaged 26 points in the tournament and was named tournament MVP – the first freshman in ACC history to achieve that honor. In his sophomore season, Ford averaged 18.6 points and 7.0 assists per game. His assists average established a UNC single-season record until Ed Cota averaged 7.4 assists during the 1997–98 season. Ford led UNC to a first-place finish during the ACC regular season and was a first team All-ACC selection, an honor he would also receive in his junior and senior seasons. He also was a consensus second team All-American. In his junior season, Ford averaged 18.7 points and 6.6 assists per game while once again leading the Tar Heels to a first-place ACC regular season finish. In the 1977 ACC tournament, Ford scored 26 points in the championship game against the Virginia to propel UNC to another conference title. In the 1977 NCAA Division I basketball tournament, Ford helped advance the Tar Heels into the Final Four and all the way to the NCAA Championship Game, despite hyperextending his shooting elbow in the regional semifinal game against Notre Dame. Ford was named a consensus first team All-American at the end of the season.