Former Tar Heel: Theo Pinson, the Glue Guy

Theo Pinson went to the NBA and played for the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, and the Dallas Mavericks totaling five seasons.

Pinson's last showing in the NBA was during the 2022-2023 year, where he played in 40 games averaging 2.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. Yes, his numbers were not the best by any means, but the Greensboro, North Carolina native gained experience playing basketball with and against the best group of players basketball has to offer.

However, Pinson's career during college was far different, finding himself to be the glue guy for all of the various rosters he was a part of (in his case, there was a good amount of continuity). From doing all of the little things, such as making the right pass, boxing out a defender, and guarding the other team's best player, he checked off a lot of boxes, a positive for Roy Williams.

The six-foot-five guard played with Tony Bradley during the 2016-2017 season when North Carolina added another national championship, and redeemed the events of what happened a year prior (Kris Jenkins' buzzer-beater). Pinson was a part of the starting lineup against Mark Few and Gonzaga that featured Kennedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks, Justin Jackson, and Joel Berry.

Pinson was a "do-it-all" kind of player, here's an excerpt found on GoHeels about his career at UNC:

"Starter on the 2017 national championship team • Played in 14 NCAA Tournament wins, tied for second in school history • One of 12 Tar Heels to play in two national title games • Scored 757 points in 122 games (6.2) • Had 536 rebounds and 416 assists • Is 16th in assists at UNC (third among non-point guards behind Steve Hale and Matt Doherty) • Third-highest assist/turnover ratio in UNC history for players with at least 400 assists

• Had 416 assists and 186 turnovers, a ratio of 2.24 • One of three Tar Heels with 500 rebounds and 400 assists (with Ed Cota and Walter Davis) • Scored in double figures 27 times (UNC was 23-4 in those games) • Led UNC in assists 46 times."

And to dive further into his time in Chapel Hill, below is what he accomplished during his senior year, per GoHeels:

"Honorable mention All-ACC and first-team All-ACC Tournament • Became the first Tar Heel ever to average at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists in a season

• The eighth player in ACC history to average 10/5/5 in the same season (Georgia Tech’s Brian Oliver in 1989, Georgia Tech’s Kenny Anderson in 1990 and 1991, Maryland’s Walt Williams in 1991, Duke’s Grant Hill in 1994, FSU’s Bob Sura in 1995, Maryland’s John Gilchrist in 2005 and Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez in 2008 and 2009)

• Averaged career highs in points (10.3), rebounds (6.5) and assists (5.1) • Shot a career-best 47.3 percent from the floor and 81.8 percent from the free throw line • Fifth in the ACC in assists (tied for third in league games) • Only non-point guard in the top five and one of two (with Duke’s Grayson Allen) in the top 10 • One of two players (with BC’s Ky Bowman) in the top 10 in the ACC in assists and the top 20 in rebounding

• Led Carolina in assists (187), was second in rebounding and fifth in scoring • Led UNC in assists 25 times • Had five or more assists 22 times (UNC was 18-4) • Had 137 assists and 59 turnovers (2.3) in UNC’s 26 wins and 50 assists/30 turnovers (1.7) in the 11 losses • Made 83 of his last 98 (.847) free throw attempts

• UNC went 22-6 when he had more assists than turnovers (including the loss at Clemson when he played less than two minutes) and 3-5 when he committed more turnovers • Had 71 more assists than any other Tar Heel.

Averaged 13.8 points and shot 53.2 percent from the floor in the last dozen games • Averaged 6.4 assists in the last 14 games • Set or tied his career scoring high four times (19 vs. Bucknell and Ohio State, 22 vs. NC State, 23 at Syracuse and 25 vs. Miami) and set his career best in assists with 11 twice in the last eight games • Had five double-doubles in the last 11 games (had three in his first 111 games)"

Pinson hosts a podcast called "Run Your Race" these days, and you can find him talking about his past experiences in college and discovering many NBA players speaking their truth about UNC.

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