Former Tar Heel: Pete Nance, Following His Dad’s Footsteps

Pete Nance was famous for his eating his go-to lemon Oreos during the 2022-2023 season, a year after the big national championship run for Hubert Davis, and former Tar Heels RJ Davis, Armando Bacot, Leaky Black, and Caleb Love. But the team did not find much success, missing the NCAA Tournament completely despite being preseason No. 1 in all of college basketball.

Now, Nance is working his way around the NBA, after playing for the Cleveland Cavailers in his first year, then the Philadelphia 76ers before being waived and joining the Milwaukee Bucks on a two-way contract.

His Dad, Larry Nance, also played in the NBA, being a part of the Cavailers back in the day.

Before Chapel Hill, Nance played four seasons at Northwestern. Here's an overiew of his collegiate career found on GoHeels:

"Started at power forward in all 30 games in which he played • Averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds (averaged 9.6 points and 5.4 boards in four seasons at Northwestern) • Led UNC in blocks (34), was second on the team in free throw percentage (.816) and third in three-pointers (32) and rebounding • Made five 3FGs vs. Portland, four vs. Virginia and three in three games

• Scored in double figures 15 times with 20 or more three times (three straight games for the first time since early December) • Led the Tar Heels in scoring five times (Portland, Indiana, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Virginia) • Double-figure rebounds six times with a high of 12 at Indiana

• Made 23 of his last 25 free throws • Missed three games (Notre Dame, Virginia and Louisville) due to a back strain he originally suffered December 30 at Pittsburgh and aggravated in the opening moments of the Wake Forest game on January 4."

Below is more on lone season at North Carolina, per GoHeels:

"Tied his season high with four blocks vs. Boston College in the ACC Tournament • Fifth double-double (second in three games) with 15 and 10, hit three 3FGs and all six of his FTs at Florida State •Game-high 22 points with four blocks in win over No. 6 Virginia • Made all four of his three-point attempts, all in the first half, as UNC built a 42-26 lead • All four blocks came in the second half as UNC protected its lead

• First Tar Heel with four 3FGs and four blocks since Danny Green vs. Valparaiso in 2007 (and just the third to ever do that)•Season- and game-high five assists plus 11 points and 10 boards (including a career-high five offensive rebounds that led to eight of his 11 points) at Notre Dame • All five of his assists came in the second half

• Tied his career high with four offensive rebounds at NC State • Season-high three offensive rebounds and three blocks vs. Miami • Had 11 points and 10 rebounds at Wake Forest, his first double-double since December 4 at Virginia Tech • Game-high 21 points (most in an ACC game), including the game-winning basket with 17.7 seconds to play at Syracuse • Was his 10th career 20-point game

• Matched his career high with eight made free throws, tied his season-high with three assists and had a career-high three steals • Grabbed eight rebounds, had one highlight reel drive and dunk and was a plus 14 in the win over NC State • Was his best plus/minus in an ACC game since the opener vs. Georgia Tech • Returned to the lineup against Boston College and made two early threes

• Played only two minutes vs. Wake Forest due a strained back, which he initially injured in the first half at Pittsburgh • Made a turnaround, 16-foot jumper as time expired to send game to overtime as UNC went on to beat No. 23 Ohio State, 89-84

• Double-doubles in UNC’s two road games – 18 and 10 at Virginia Tech and 15 and 12 at Indiana • Made a career-high five threes and tied his career high with 28 points in the 89-81 win at Portland • Scored 20 of his 28 in the second half • Eighteen points (16 in first half) and three blocks vs. Gardner-Webb.

Despite Nance not finding much team success at UNC, he is now trying to help whatever organization he's involved with have a different outcome, more so toward the interest of winning an NBA championship.

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