Think about this. The University of North Carolina has seen 49 of its players get selected in the 1st round of the NBA draft over the years. No fewer than 12 of those players went to at least one All-Star game in their careers and five of them are in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Yet the Chicago Bulls have only selected one of those 49 players in the entire history of their franchise.
Until tonight.
Michael Jordan stood for 35 years as the only 1st round pick out of UNC that the Bulls drafted and kept. Obviously, it was a phenomenal grand slam of a choice, but that begs the question. Why in the world did it take so long for the organization to go back to that well? The college has continued to produce great talent for the league.
We may never know. What Bulls fans do know is the streak is finally over. On the evening of June 20th, 2019 the Bulls selected Tarheels points guard Coby White with the 7th overall pick.
Chicago Bulls believe they finally have the final puzzle piece
For the longest time, it was felt the Bulls had enough pieces in place to take on the better teams in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, something was always missing. They had a scorer in Zach Levine, a power forward in Lauri Markannen who could shoot from distance and a tough, rugged center in Wendall Carter Jr. who could patrol the paint and block shots.
What they didn’t have was a point guard who could run the show, distribute the ball, and shoot. White solves all of these problems. In 35 games for North Carolina, he averaged 16.1 points per game, with 4.1 assists, and 3.5 rebounds. He plays with speed and high-octane fuel, always looking to open up the floor for the fast break. He also shot 42.3% from the floor, which is pretty good for a freshman.
Throw in the fact he’s 6’5 and there isn’t a lot to hate about the choice. Like any rookie, he’ll have issues to work through but there is no question the talent is there for this young man to become a cornerstone piece of the Bulls nucleus for the next several years.
