With UNC football faltering and the Bill Belichick drama dominating Carolina headlines, it’s easy to overlook another long-standing issue — the Tar Heels’ basketball program is sputtering like an old engine. The program that once produced NBA and Team USA icons like Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, and James Worthy is far from its glory days.

Even former Tar Heel Rashad McCants, who helped lead UNC to the 2005 national championship, admits the program feels unrecognizable. Now a crown-wearing commentator on Gil’s Arena, McCants didn’t hold back. “It’s a whole revamp, a whole rebuilding situation down in Carolina,” he said.

Pointing to the new college landscape as a major culprit. In his view, NIL deals and the transfer portal have reshaped recruiting and eroded the sense of identity that once defined Carolina basketball. The school’s most recent NBA product, Drake Powell, was drafted in 2025 after earning a reputation as UNC’s defensive anchor.

Now with the Brooklyn Nets, the 19-year-old still has to prove whether he’s more than a role player. His final college season ended in disappointment- a 23–14 record and a first-round NCAA tournament exit.

Meanwhile, historic rival Duke continues churning out lottery picks and deep March runs, further highlighting UNC’s stagnation. For longtime Tar Heel loyalists like McCants, the decline isn’t just about wins and losses- it’s about losing the program’s identity, something that once made Chapel Hill the standard for college basketball excellence.

He’s so affected by it, he needs all the Chapel Hill legends to band together under the greatest athlete that UNC created and restore it to its former glory. “The culture of college basketball has changed with the NIL. Michael Jordan needs to throw some money in there. (Jerry) Stackhouse, Vince Carter, all these guys that are alumni. They say it’s a brotherhood. You’ve got to offer the bread.”

McCants is not saying Jordan, Carter, Stackhouse or even himself have to suit up and dive headfirst into the court. He expects the NBA greats to bring more resources and more motivation to the Tar Heels. who are lacking in that regard.

Why does he want Michael Jordan to put a chunk of his $3.8 billion net worth towards the Tar Heels basketball program only now? Well, the team’s latest setback came with the AP Poll. Chapel Hill began the season ranked ninth last year. This year, the team is at 25. This mounts the pressure on Coach Hubert Davis to fix things in the fifth season.

Something like how UNC football became a big draw because of Bill Belichick (the drama with his girlfriend is a whole other story), Tar Heels basketball needs star power. Who better than Michael Jordan to provide that?

Michael Jordan needs to revive Tar Heels

Perhaps the boldest move UNC made for its athletic department was bring Bill Belichick as head coach. The NFL legend’s presence was a recruitment powerhouse. Just his name was temptation enough for top football prospects in the country to want to pick Chapel Hill.

The basketball team is missing that in its recruitments as McCants said, “These kids want to know why they should go to Carolina. The tradition is no longer where it was. We were winning through our talent and our recruiting, and now the standard of Carolina basketball is ‘Come play, graduate, then go on to play overseas ball.’ Getting back to understanding how to get recruits to your university – you’ve got to start throwing some money around now.”

He’s eerily familiar with that pattern. Rashad McCants has a net worth of $4 million and earned roughly $7.5 million across five NBA seasons before going overseas. His post-UNC career wasn’t something that could be advertised to teens.

There have been very few memorable basketball products after McCants and his sister, Rashanda to come out of Chapel Hill. Some social media users say Rasheed Wallace was the last best Tar Heel in the NBA.

Jordan didn’t completely ignore his alma mater. He’s shown up to Tar Heels basketball games many times. He’s also a close friend of Belichick. He made a rare appearance at Belichick’s UNC debut game last month. It was also a reunion with the former Tar Heel assistant coach who recruited him, Roy Williams.

Williams had returned to Chapel Hill as head coach in 2003 and the Tar Heels with McCants won the championship two years later.

McCants feels that Jordan and Williams era energy has faded away. Maybe that’s why he’s not only imploring for Jordan to help, but also demanding that Hubert Davis be replaced with a new head coach. We’d know if the Tar Heels need that help when they kick off this season in November.