Rasheed Wallace on who is the greatest Tar Heel ever: "Mike is great, but Phil Ford is the best to do it at Carolina"

Michael Jordan is the most popular player from the University of North Carolina. He also hit the championship-winning shot for the Tar Heels during his freshman season and went on to win College Player of the Year as a junior before entering the 1984 NBA Draft.

But even with his impressive college basketball credentials, MJ's fellow Tar Heel Rasheed Wallace doesn't think Jordan is the best player in the program's history.

"It's not Michael Jordan," said Wallace. "Mike is great, don't get me wrong, but Phil Ford is the best to do it at Carolina…The number 1 pick by the Kansas City Kings."

First freshman to win ACC Tournament MVP

Jordan averaged 17.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.7 steals per game at UNC. He earned two first-team All-American honors and was the ACC Player of the Year and National Player of the Year winner in 1984. MJ also won Olympic gold in 1984 as a member of the Tar Heels.

Meanwhile, Ford was the first freshman to start his first collegiate game for Dean Smith at UNC. The Rocky Mount, North Carolina native ended N.C. State's two-year reign as ACC champions and became the first freshman to win ACC Tournament MVP honors.

Ford averaged 18.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.8 steals per game while earning two ACC Player of the Year awards, three First Team All-American selections, and the 1978 National Player of the Year award. He was a starter for the 1976 Olympic team—they also won the gold medal—and finished his career as the Tar Heels' leading scorer before Tyler Hansbrough broke his record.

Better college career than MJ?

Speaking of Hansbrough, popular sportscaster Dan Patrick once said that the forward had a better college career than Jordan. According to Patrick, Tyler may not have been as successful as MJ in the NBA, but in college, he was not just UNC's all-time leading scorer but also the conference's best scorer ever.

"Tyler Hansbrough had a better college career than Michael Jordan," Dan said . "Christian Laettner was a better college player than Michael Jordan. If I just said this career versus this career, and I did not attach names, you would go with the guy who's the All-Time leading scorer in the ACC."

Jordan is (arguably) the best basketball player of all time. However, as far as the NCAA is concerned, Mike shouldn't even be in the discussion. That said, he still has an argument to be mentioned among the greatest UNC players ever. But no one should be mad if he isn't people's first choice.

Related: "He was a late bloomer" - James Worthy gets real on when he realized Michael Jordan was better than him during their time at UNC