Former UNC basketball captain, NBA star and G League coach Joe Wolf dies at 59: ‘We will miss him’

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

The Milwaukee Bucks announced Wolf’s death.

“Throughout his life, Joe touched many lives and was a highly respected, revered and dedicated coach and player throughout the NBA,” the Bucks said in a statement Thursday. Wolf was 59.

After leaving North Carolina, Wolf played for multiple NBA teams over the course of 11 years. He then moved into coaching and worked as an assistant for the Bucks’ G League affiliate – the Wisconsin Herd.

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Joe Wolf, a former North Carolina captain who played for seven teams and then became a coach during his 11-year NBA career, died unexpectedly Thursday, the Milwaukee Bucks announced. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

“Off the field, Joe was a beloved brother, uncle, friend and community leader,” the Bucks’ statement continued. “We extend our deepest condolences to Joe’s family and friends. The Bucks and Herd will always be grateful to Joe for his hard work and dedication to our organization. We will miss him.”

Wolf was a high school All-American in 1983 before joining the Tar Heels to play alongside players like Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins. As a senior, Wolf was co-captain of the Tar Heels from 1986 to 1987, sharing that role with Kenny Smith.

North Carolina posted a 115-22 record in Wolf’s four seasons, making it to the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite Eight twice during that span. Wolf praised Smith for instilling important skills in him from the beginning of his college experience.

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“I like to think I started training as soon as I stepped on campus,” Wolf told the Greensboro News and Record in 2018. “Coach Smith was all about developing the right habits. That benefits me today.”

North Carolina’s Joe Wolf (24) is stopped by Villanova players Gary McLain (22) and Harold Jensen (32) during early action at the NCAA Southeast Regional final in Birmingham, Alabama, March 24, 1985. (AP Photo/File)

He was selected All-ACC in 1987 and finished his North Carolina career with 1,231 points. The Los Angeles Clippers used number 13 on Wolf in the 1987 draft. He spent three seasons with the organization before joining the Denver Nuggets in 1991 and later played for five other franchises.

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

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He coached at the college level as an assistant at William & Mary and UNC Wilmington, was a head coach in what is now the G League at Idaho, Colorado and Greensboro, was an NBA assistant at 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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