Former UNC basketball captain, NBA star, and G League coach Joe Wolf dead at 59: 'He will be missed'

Joe Wolf, who rose to stardom as a North Carolina basketball captain under legendary coach Dean Smith, died earlier this week. 

The Milwaukee Bucks announced Wolf's passing.

"Throughout his life, Joe touched many lives and was a highly respected, adored and dedicated coach and player across the NBA," the Bucks said in a statement on Thursday. Wolf was 59.

After he left North Carolina, Wolf went on to play for several NBA teams over the span of 11 years. He then moved into coaching, working as an assistant for the Bucks’ G League affiliate — the Wisconsin Herd.

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"Off the court, Joe was a beloved brother, uncle, friend and community leader," the statement from the Bucks continued. "We send our deepest condolences to Joe’s family and friends. The Bucks and Herd will always be grateful to Joe for his hard work and commitment to our organization. He will be missed."

Wolf was a high school All-American in 1983 before joining the Tar Heels to play alongside the likes of Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins. Wolf was a co-captain for the Tar Heels as a senior in 1986-87, sharing that role with Kenny Smith.

North Carolina went 115-22 in Wolf’s four seasons, making the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite Eight twice in that span. Wolf credited Smith for instilling important skills in him from the beginning of his college experience.

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"I like to think I started getting trained the minute I stepped on campus," Wolf told the Greensboro News and Record in 2018. "Coach Smith was all about building the proper habits. That benefits me today."

He was an All-ACC pick in 1987 and finished his career at North Carolina with 1,231 points. The Los Angeles Clippers used the No. 13 pick in the 1987 draft on Wolf. He spent three seasons with the organization before joining the Denver Nuggets in 1991, and later playing for five more franchises.

Wolf led Kohler High School to three Wisconsin state championships, and in 2005 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel named him the state’s greatest high school basketball player ever, the Bucks said.

He coached at the college level as an assistant at William & Mary and UNC Wilmington, was a head coach in what is now called the G League with Idaho, Colorado and Greensboro, had been an NBA assistant for Milwaukee and Brooklyn and was hired in 2023 as a G League assistant for the Herd.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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