Recruited by Dean Smith, Jordan entered UNC as a freshman in 1981. Averaging 13.4 points per game with a 53.4% shooting percentage, he helped the Tar Heels to the 1982 NCAA Championship where his game winning jump shot defeated Georgetown. He was the ACC Freshman of the Year, followed up by being named to the NCAA All-American team in 1983 and 1984. The college phenom took home the John Wooden and James Naismith Awards in 1984, and left the university a year early to enter the NBA draft. While many athletes of Jordan's talent would have abandoned their college education and never looked back, Michael returned to Chapel Hill and finished the courses for his cultural geography degree in 1986.

To keep the document's original appearance and chain of ownership intact, we have left the diploma framed and matted as it originally was when displayed at Jordan's restaurant in Chapel Hill, the aptly named "23". After the closing of "23", the Jordan memorabilia on display was stored at a public storage facility, and from this facility his diploma was obtained when the contents of the storage unit was purchased at public auction. The 11" x 13" diploma is named to "Michael Jeffery Jordan", awarding him with "the degree of Bachelor of Arts" and is dated "thirty-first day of December in the year nineteen hundred and eighty-six". Facsimile signatures of the Chairman of the Board of Governors, President, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chancellor and Dean surround the printed seal of UNC (embossed seals were reserved for the diplomas of graduate students). The original 14 1/4" x 15 3/4" frame shows wear and scuffs from many years of storage, but the diploma and matte have been well-protected by the original glass. The frame's back has the original "Framemakers" label attached (Framemakers is the acknowledged specialists in framing UNC diplomas for generations of Chapel Hill graduates).

In October 1999, this diploma was framed by "Framemakers" with three other documents Michael Jordan was providing for display at his Chapel Hill restaurant 'Michael Jordan's 23' where it was on display until its closing. All of those other documents are also being offered as the next three lots in this catalog. Despite the wear on the frame and to preserve the integrity and provenance of the item, it remains in its original form as it was displayed at 'Jordan's 23'.  Through the office of the registrar at UNC-Chapel Hill, Goldin Auctions has confirmed this is an original document and could only be obtained by the actual student. In this particularly momentus instance, that student was Michael Jeffrey Jordan, the most famous graduate in North Carolina history and the greatest basketball player who ever lived.  It is possible for a UNC graduate to request a second diploma, however UNC registrars office would not provide information to us if more than one diploma was ever issued to Michael Jeffrey Jordan. They confirmed only the student is able to order their diploma, and if a second one is ever shown to us we will state such in this description.

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