PHIL FORD
When I think of Phil Ford I think of the Four Corners offense. I think of him racing down the court and stopping abruptly and hitting a mid-range jump shot.
Phil played four years of basketball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after graduating from Rocky Mount High School in North Carolina. After his sophomore season, Ford started for the U.S. Olympic team that won the gold medal in 1976. While a senior, he averaged 20.8 points a game during that 1977-78 season. He is Carolina's number 2 all-time leading scorer with 2,290 points.
Phil was taken as the second player in the 1978 NBA draft by the Kansas City Kings and won the 1979 NBA Rookie of the Year award. He also was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team and to the All-NBA second team. Ford's tenure with the Kings lasted four seasons, and he finished his NBA career by playing one year with the New Jersey Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks and two seasons with the Houston Rockets.
Phil Ford was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in May 1991.
