- In a fascinating twist of recruiting lore, Michael Jordan once revealed that college basketball royalty—UCLA—was actually his dream destination, not UNC. As he put it, “UCLA was my first choice, not North Carolina… I always wanted to go to UCLA. That was my dream school… but I never got recruited by UCLA.” He explained that, by the time UCLA showed interest, they assumed he intended to stay close to home—North Carolina—though that wasn’t necessarily true .
Despite his initial preferences, UNC became his college home—and not by broad fanfare or an irresistible pitch. In fact, Coach Dean Smith reportedly “tried to keep me hidden” from broader recruiting exposure. Jordan said, “I went to North Carolina with the Five-Star camp, even though Dean Smith didn’t want me to go. He tried to keep me hidden. If I was at Five-Star, they would…” . The sentence trails off, but the implication is clear: appearing at a major showcase like the Five-Star Camp might have sparked a recruitment frenzy, potentially jeopardizing UNC’s quiet hold on him.
The drama unfolded in the summer of 1980, orchestrated in part by UNC assistant coach Roy Williams. Williams inadvertently blew the lid off the secret: he let word leak that Jordan was a hidden gem entering the Five-Star Camp. That act transformed Jordan overnight from a local prospect into a national sensation, igniting a full-blown scramble among major programs .
Once the cat was out of the bag, Jordan’s performance at the camp turned heads. His explosive athleticism and unmistakable talent elevated his profile immediately. Ironically, this surge in attention made it challenging for UNC to maintain any exclusivity—but luckily for them, they were already in the mix .
Looking back, Jordan never dismissed Dean Smith’s influence—calling him the foundational coach who shaped his game, even stating he’d choose Smith over future NBA coaching legends, like Phil Jackson . Though Jordan may have initially preferred UCLA, UNC’s nurturing environment, Smith’s philosophy, and Roy Williams’s faith in him forged a bond that ultimately defined his early career.
