Tyler Hansbrough

He made the front cover of Sports Illustrated

My hero is Tyler Hansbrough. He is my hero because for one, he is part of a University of North Carolina team, and I'm a huge UNC fan. Two, he is the best player on the UNC Boys' Basketball Team. And three, he inspires people to follow their dreams because he didn't get to be as good as he is by doing nothing! If you keep practicing you'll get better. Practice makes perfect. But you probably won't be as good as Tyler.

Slam dunk!

He was born on November 3, 1985 in Columbia Missouri. He has an average of around 20 points every game. He is also my hero because I like good players, not bad ones, no offence. But I don't just like any good players. You've got to be good on and off the court or field, wherever you’re playing. But that’s not the only reason he's my hero. I also love to play basketball and soccer.

He's also my hero because he's had to go through some tough situations during this time. He got accepted into Duke University to join the Duke Blue Devils Boys' Basketball Team. Of course, he turned them down. He's going to be, and always will be a UNC Tar Heel! That’s how Duke is, trying to take our best players, but Tyler didn't accept. A lot of people would have accepted that offer in a heart-beat! Would you accept a free scholarship to Duke University, having already been accepted on their basketball team? It takes a true Tar Heel to not accept that offer.

He always greets his fans!

I used to play basketball, but quit because I didn't like the people on my team. After I quit basketball, I started playing soccer. I loved soccer and still do. I've been playing soccer now for 4 years. I was inspired after I saw Tyler play basketball and just how he stuck with it and didn't quit even though he's been through some tough times. He inspired me to play basketball again. I've been playing basketball for 2 years now.

Tyler Hansbrough is my hero for many reasons, but mostly because he got me playing basketball again. I'm really good at basketball, but not nearly as good as Tyler. He came in 2nd place in North Carolina, right behind J.J. Redik for Duke. But he's the best to me. I've been to a lot of UNC Basketball games. I've seen him play. He is really good! My whole room is in UNC Tar Heels. I have a poster from one of the UNC Boys' Basketball games. It has every player from the UNC Boys Basketball Team on it. Tyler Hansbrough was, and is still to this day, my hero.