Early life
Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born at Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn, New York City, on February 17, 1963, to bank employee Deloris (née Peoples) and equipment supervisor James R. Jordan Sr. He has two older brothers, James Jr. and Larry, as well as an older sister named Deloris and a younger sister named Roslyn. Jordan and his siblings were raised Methodist.
In 1968, the family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School, where he played basketball, baseball, and football. He tried out for the basketball varsity team during his sophomore year, but at a height of 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m), he was deemed too short. Motivated to prove his worth, Jordan became the star of Laney's junior varsity team and tallied some 40-point games. The following summer, he grew four inches (10 cm) and trained rigorously. Upon earning a spot on the varsity roster, Jordan averaged more than 25 points per game (ppg) over his final two seasons of high school play. As a senior, he was selected for the 1981 McDonald's All-American Game and scored 30 points, after averaging 26.8 ppg, 11.6 rebounds (rpg), and 10.1 assists per game (apg) for the season.
Jordan was recruited by numerous college basketball programs, including Duke, North Carolina, South Carolina, Syracuse, and Virginia. In 1981, he accepted a basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where Jordan majored in cultural geography. He chose this field of study because of its relationship to meteorology, as Jordan was interested in a career as a meteorologist.
College Career
As a freshman in coach Dean Smith's team-oriented system, Michael Jordan was named ACC Freshman of the Year after averaging 13.4 ppg on 53.4% shooting (field goal percentage). He made the game-winning jump shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship game against Georgetown, which was led by future NBA rival Patrick Ewing. Jordan later described this shot as the major turning point in his basketball career. During his three seasons with the Tar Heels, Jordan averaged 17.7 ppg on 54.0% shooting and added 5.0 rpg and 1.8 apg.
Jordan was selected by consensus to the NCAA All-American First Team in both his sophomore (1983) and junior (1984) seasons. After winning the Naismith and the Wooden College Player of the Year awards in 1984, Jordan left North Carolina a year before his scheduled graduation to enter the 1984 NBA draft. Jordan returned to North Carolina to complete his degree in 1986, when he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in geography. In 2002, Jordan was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team honoring the 50 greatest players in ACC history.