He was the first member of the North Carolina Tar Heels to earn All-America honors in any sport, when he was named to the 1923 first team for men's basketball, an honor he also received in 1924.

[2] Carmichael was a member of the basketball team named 1922 and 1924 "Champions of the South" after winning the Southern Conference tournament at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium.

The team was retrospectively awarded the 1924 national championship by the Helms Athletic Foundation some eleven years later.

He also lettered as an outfielder for the UNC baseball team, and played football.

[5] Coach Norman Shepard later recalled, "That 1924 team was characterized by quickness and speed...It was a very, very fast team, and we used the fast break effectively...I had inherited a very good group of boys from the team before...Carmichael and Dodderer were exceptionally good...Carmichael and Cobb were so fast and quick with their faking and feinting and breaking, and Carmichael could drive to the basket with unbelievable speed and hold himself in the air for a long time, like he was suspended.