James Worthy Announced as 2016 ACC Legend

The ACC has announced the 2016 Legends class and 1982 Final Four MOP James Worthy will represent UNC.

From the press release:

James Worthy, North Carolina (1979-82) – The 1982 National Player of the Year and the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, Worthy led North Carolina to its second NCAA title and the first under legendary head coach Dean Smith. His 28-point performance and steal in the closing seconds keyed the Tar Heels past Georgetown in the national championship game. That capped a junior year in which Worthy earned All-America honors for the second consecutive season and was also the MVP of both the ACC Tournament and the NCAA East Regional. The Los Angeles Lakers made the Gastonia, North Carolina, native the NBA’s No. 1 overall draft pick a few months later. Despite missing a large part of his freshman year at UNC with a broken ankle, Worthy totaled 1,219 points in just over 2 ½ college seasons to rank among the school’s all-time leading scorers. He went on to stellar professional career in which he was a seven-time NBA All-Star, played on three NBA title teams and was voted the MVP of the 1988 NBA Finals. Worthy’s jersey (number 52) was retired at UNC, and he was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2003.

Kind of amazing it took this long to get Worthy honored. Then again the list of UNC players who could receive this honor is quite long.