Raymond Felton - College Career

College Career

In his freshman year, he was voted Carolina Player of the Year and ACC Freshman of the Week three times. He had 236 assists, and averaged 12.0 points a game. During his sophomore year, he was a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award and the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, had 213 assists, and led the Tar Heels in steals (63) and free throw percentage (81%) while averaging 11.5 points per game. Also notable in his second year, Felton set a school-record single-game 18 assists against George Mason on Dec. 7, 2003.

In his third and final season at North Carolina, Felton led the Tar Heels along with fellow juniors Rashad McCants and Sean May and freshman Marvin Williams to the 2005 National Championship over the University of Illinois Fighting Illini on April 4, 2005 in St. Louis. This was the fourth men's basketball championship in UNC's history ( 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005). Felton hit a key three-pointer over Deron Williams to break a 65–65 tie late in the game, and then came up with a crucial steal in the final seconds when Illinois had a chance to either tie the game or take the lead. His two free throws after the steal provided the final scoring in the game.

Felton averaged 12.9 points and 6.9 assists per game during his junior season and showed a much-improved shooting touch. In recognition of his efforts, he was voted to the All-ACC First Team that season. Felton also won the Bob Cousy Award that honors the best collegiate point guard. Due to his excellent junior campaign EA Sports awarded Felton the cover of NCAA March Madness 06.