"Best 6'4 high school player I've ever seen": When UNC great Roy Williams spoke about how 18 year old Michael Jordan left him stunned

Michael Jordan was a high school athlete at Emsley A. Laney High when legendary coach Roy Williams recognized him and brought him to Chapel Hill. Williams was Dean Smith's assistant in the early '80s when he saw Jordan for the first time.

Jordan picked the Tar Heels over Duke, Syracuse and South Carolina and made an instant impact, winning the national title in 1982, which jumpstarted his legendary basketball career.

Williams recalled the day he saw the 18-year-old Jordan during his appearance on the "Run Your Race" podcast with Theo Pinson in November 2024.

"I was the first coach to really get excited about Michael," Williams said (Timestamp: 27:31). "We had Michael in our basketball camp. I had called his high school coach to see if he would consider bringing him to camp. We had gotten a report that he was pretty good, and on Sunday afternoon in camp, I just fell in love with him.

"I had him in the gym for a couple hours, and I told Coach Smith and Eddie Fogler (then UNC assistant coach), 'You guys have never seen anything like this.' I said, 'I think I just saw the best 6'4" high school player I've ever seen.'"

Roy Williams revealed he knew Michael Jordan was going to be good, but he never expected the heights he would reach in his career. Williams added that even Coach Smith, Bill Guthridge and Eddie Fogler didn't anticipate it either.

Roy Williams shared when Michael Jordan vowed to outwork everyone at UNC

In one of the episodes of Michael Jordan's documentary docuseries "The Last Dance," Roy Williams shared a story where he had a conversation with Jordan during his freshman year at North Carolina..

Williams said that Jordan approached him one day and told him he wanted to be the best player the program has ever had. Here's how the former UNC coach recalled the conversation:

"I said, 'Well, you’ve got to work harder than you did in high school.' He said, 'I worked as hard as everybody else.' I said, 'Oh, excuse me — I thought you just told me you wanted to be the best player to ever play here.' He said, 'I'm going to show you. Nobody will ever work as hard as I work.'"

Roy Williams added that Jordan relentlessly improved throughout his college career, always striving to elevate his game. Jordan finished his Tar Heels career averaging 19.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.1% in his final season.