Forty-three jerseys hang from the rafters of the Dean E. Smith center, and soon, Justin Jackson and Joel Berry will see theirs do the same. That permanence – your name being on display in one of the most hallowed environments in college basketball until long after you’re a grandparent and beyond – is among the highest honors in college sports. That’s the first thing: it’s an honor.
With such a rich history of basketball talent, making judgments about who should and should not receive that honor is tough. There are great players and great people whose names aren’t up there (Kennedy Meeks, Danny Green, Kendall Marshall, and Shammond Williams among them).