LeBron James Reveals Surprising UNC Take

LeBron James never played college basketball, but it sounds like he would've wanted to be a North Carolina Tar Heel if he didn't go straight to the NBA Draft out of high school.

On his Mind the Game podcast with J.J. Redick, LeBron explained that he loved former Tar Heels star guard Ed Cota's passing ability, though the beautiful uniforms didn't hurt matters.

If you take LeBron at his word, which is admittedly challenging at times, it sounds like one of the greatest basketball players in history nearly followed in Michael Jordan's footsteps and suited up in Chapel Hill.

LeBron James Reveals He Wanted to Play for North Carolina

As LeBron explained in the podcast, he originally wanted to go to Cincinnati to play for then-head coach Bob Huggins. He continued, "And then I got a little older and I wanted to go to North Carolina because of the uniforms and because of Ed Cota and his ability to pass the ball, I was like, 'Oh, that's insane.'"

Cota, who averaged 9.1 points and 7.5 assists per game over a stellar four-year career, was widely regarded as one of the best pure point guards in the country and a true floor general. He clearly had a large influence, inspiring even someone as successful as LeBron to want to play alongside him.

Of course, LeBron would ultimately be selected No. 1 overall in the legendary 2003 NBA Draft, going on to become one of the greatest players of all-time. His story does not include a stop at UNC, but it's fun to dream about what could have been.

There's no way to know for sure if LeBron would have committed to the Tar Heels if he had the opportunity. At the very least though, it sounds like he would have considered it.

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