North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
North Carolina Tar Heels | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
University | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | ||
First season | 1910–11 | ||
All-time record | 2,370–858 (.734) | ||
Athletic director | Bubba Cunningham | ||
Head coach | Hubert Davis (3rd season) | ||
Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference | ||
Location | Chapel Hill, North Carolina | ||
Arena | Dean Smith Center (Capacity: 21,750) | ||
Nickname | Tar Heels | ||
Colors | Carolina blue and white[1] | ||
Uniforms | |||
| |||
Pre-tournament Premo-Porretta champions | |||
1924 | |||
Pre-tournament Helms champions | |||
1924 | |||
NCAA tournament champions | |||
1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2017 | |||
NCAA tournament runner-up | |||
1946, 1968, 1977, 1981, 2016, 2022 | |||
NCAA tournament Final Four | |||
1946, 1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2022 | |||
NCAA tournament Elite Eight | |||
1941, 1946, 1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2022 | |||
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen | |||
1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024 | |||
NCAA tournament appearances | |||
1941, 1946, 1957, 1959, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024 | |||
Conference tournament champions | |||
1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1945, 1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2008, 2016 | |||
Conference regular season champions | |||
1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1935, 1938, 1941, 1944, 1946, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2024 |
The North Carolina Tar Heels Men's basketball program is a
North Carolina's six national championships are third-most all-time, behind
From the Tar Heels' first season in
Carolina has played 182 games in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels have appeared in the NCAA Tournament championship game twelve times, and have been in a record 21 NCAA Tournament Final Fours.[10] The Tar Heels have been selected to the NCAA Tournament 53 times (second-most all-time),[11][12] and have amassed 133 victories (most all-time).[11][12] North Carolina won the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 1971,[2] and has appeared in two NIT Finals with six appearances in the NIT Tournament.[2] Additionally, the team has been the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament eighteen times, the latest being in 2024 (most No. 1 seeds all-time).
North Carolina has been ranked in the top 25 of the
Team history
Early years (1910–1953)
North Carolina played its first game on January 27, 1911, beating
In the
SoCon years
In 1921, the school joined the Southern Conference.[20] Overall, the Tar Heels played 32 seasons in the Southern Conference from 1921 to 1953. During that period, they won 304 games and lost 111 for a winning percentage of 73.3%. The Tar Heels won the Southern Conference regular season title 9 times and the Southern Conference tournament 8 times.
In 1924, the Tar Heels moved to the Tin Can for home games. From 1924 to 1938, UNC would go 130–20 (.867 winning percentage) at the Tin Can. Rudimentarily built of steel, attempts to heat the Tin Can failed, with ice often forming inside:
The Tin Can was always freezing [...] they had icicles in the corners. To stay warm the electricians put those big-wattage bulbs under the benches, and we had blankets and wore heavy sweat clothes. Later on they did get central heat in there, but it was never adequate. You couldn't dress there.
— George Shephard, North Carolina coach 1931–35, University of North Carolina Basketball
On February 29, 1924, UNC beat Kentucky, 41–20, in the first-ever game of the Kentucky–North Carolina rivalry. The 1923–24 Tar Heels squad went 26–0, and was awarded a national championship by the Helms Athletic Foundation in 1943 and later by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.[21][22] In North Carolina's first five seasons in the SoCon (from 1921–22 to 1925–26), they went 96–17, won four SoCon regular season championships, and four SoCon tournament championships.[15] Their fast style of play and stingy defense earned these teams the nickname "White Phantoms", coined by sportswriter Oscar Bane Keeler of The Atlanta Journal,[23] used as an alternative nickname for the Tar Heels through 1950.[24]
Cartwright Carmichael was the first Tar Heel to earn first-team All-America honors in any sport in 1923, and was again selected in 1924. Jack Cobb was UNC's first three-time All-America (1924, 1925, 1926), and was named Helms Foundation Player of the Year in 1926. George Glamack followed suit in 1940 and 1941, being named Helms Foundation Player of the Year also. Both Cobb and Glamack are honored with their numbers being retired (Cobb did not have a number).[15]
In 1939, the Tar Heels relocated their home arena to the Woollen Gymnasium, where they would play until 1965. On March 21, 1946, under Hall of Fame coach Ben Carnevale and All-Americans Hook Dillon and Jim Jordan, North Carolina beat NYU, 57–49, for their first win in the NCAA Tournament ever. Later in the 1946 NCAA tournament, UNC advanced to their first ever Final Four. Oklahoma A&M would beat UNC, 43–40, in the championship game.[15]
For most of the first four decades of the program's history, North Carolina had very little consistency at the head coaching position, reflecting the lack of emphasis on the sport in much of the South at the time. The first coach, Cartmell, doubled as the track coach. From 1923 to 1926, three coaches led the program in as many years. Norman Shepard led the team to an undefeated season in 1923–24 while attending law school. He was succeeded by one of his players, medical student Monk McDonald, who in turn gave way to Harlan Sanborn. Other early coaches included baseball coaches Charles Doak and James Ashmore and assistant football coach Bill Lange. All told, from 1910 to 1946, no coach stayed in Chapel Hill longer than five years. Carnevale, who led UNC to its first Final Four, left after only two years. Tom Scott ran the program for six years from 1946 to 1952, but was pushed out in favor of Frank McGuire after two consecutive losing years.
Frank McGuire (1953–1961)
The modern era of Tar Heel basketball began in 1952, when Scott was pushed out after two consecutive losing seasons in favor of
On December 1, 1952, McGuire coached his first game at UNC with a 70–50 win over
In 1961, the Tar Heels were placed on NCAA probation for a year for violating "provisions prohibiting excessive entertainment" of prospective players and providing "improper financial assistance" to the parents of players. As a result, they were barred from the
Dean Smith (1961–1997)
On December 2, 1961, Carolina beat Virginia, 80–46, in Dean Smith's first game as head coach.
The following year, North Carolina won their second NCAA championship. On March 29, 1982, Final Four MOP
Bill Guthridge (1997–2000)
Smith unexpectedly retired before the start of practice for the 1997–98 season. He was succeeded by
Matt Doherty (2000–2003)
Guthridge retired in 2000 and North Carolina turned to Matt Doherty, the head coach at Notre Dame and a player on the 1982 championship team, to lead the Tar Heels.[36] Doherty had little success while at North Carolina. In his first season, the Heels were ranked No. 1 in the polls in the middle of the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule and finished with a 26–7 record. The bottom fell out the following year, as the Tar Heels finished the season with a record of 8–20, the worst season in school history. They missed postseason play entirely for the first time since the 1965–66 season (including a record 27 straight NCAA Tournament appearances) and finished with a losing record for the first time since 1962 (Dean Smith's first year as coach). They also finished 4–12 in the ACC—only the program's second losing ACC record ever. The 12 losses were six more than the Tar Heels had ever suffered in a single season of ACC play and placed them in a tie for 7th place—the program's first finish below fourth place ever. The season also saw the end of UNC's run of 31 straight 20-win seasons and 35 straight seasons of finishing third or higher in the ACC.
After bringing in one of the top 5 incoming classes for the 2002–2003 season, the Tar Heels started the season by knocking off a top 5 Kansas team and going on to win the Preseason NIT and returning to the AP top 25. North Carolina went on to finish the season 17–15, but a 6–10 record in ACC play kept them out of the NCAA Tournament. Doherty led the Tar Heels to the third round of the NIT, where they ended their season with a loss to Georgetown.
Roy Williams (2003–2021)
Despite the turnaround from the year before and the NIT appearance, at the end of the season Matt Doherty was replaced as head coach by Roy Williams. Williams had served as an assistant to Smith for 11 years before a successful 15-year tenure at Kansas, winning 9 conference regular season championships and taking his Jayhawk teams to four Final Fours. Smith himself convinced Williams to return home. Williams had also been courted by Smith for the UNC job when it had been open in 2000, but Williams had promised Nick Collison he would be at Kansas his entire college career and could not bring himself to leave Kansas at that time despite media speculation reporting Williams would take the job in 2000. Williams could not turn his mentor down a second time, so just two weeks after Doherty's resignation, Williams took the Carolina job. Williams was UNC's third coach in six years, the most turnover the program had faced since its early years. The previous two, McGuire and Smith, had covered a 45-year period.
On November 22, 2003, Carolina beat
On December 18, 2008, Tyler Hansbrough scored his 2,292nd career point, breaking Phil Ford's UNC career scoring record. In the 2008–09 season, the Tar Heels won their fifth NCAA title by defeating Michigan State in the championship of the 2009 NCAA men's basketball tournament.[39] The Tar Heels won all six of that year's tournament games by at least 12 points, for an average victory margin of 20.2 points, and only trailed for a total of 10 minutes out of 240 through the entire tournament.[40] Wayne Ellington was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, the fourth Tar Heel so honored.
The
During the season, on March 2, 2010, Carolina beat Miami, 69–62, to become the second school in NCAA history to win its 2,000th game (North Carolina was in its 100th season of basketball at the time of this accomplishment). The Tar Heels made it to the final game of the NIT, losing to Dayton in the final game finishing with a 20–17 record.The
The
With the departures of several stars from the 2012 team, The Tar Heels would begin a slow climb back to the top following the Elite Eight loss. The
In 2015–16, led by seniors Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson, the Tar Heels earned their 30th ACC regular season title, 18th ACC tournament title, and 19th Final Four.[15] They also appeared in their 10th NCAA title game, in which they lost on a buzzer beater to Villanova, despite Marcus Paige's dramatic three-pointer to tie the game with 4.7 seconds left.[47] The Tar Heels finished with a 33–7 overall record and a 14–4 ACC record.
The following year, the Tar Heels were ranked No. 6 in the AP preseason poll, having lost Paige and Johnson but retaining 2016 ACC Tournament MVP Joel Berry II as well as forwards Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks. After early season losses to Indiana and Kentucky, the Tar Heels won their 31st ACC regular season title. Despite never being ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll and losing to Duke in the semifinals of the ACC tournament, the Heels earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. On March 26, 2017, Luke Maye hit a jump shot with 0.3 seconds left to beat second-seed Kentucky, 75–73, to advance to Carolina's record 20th Final Four. On April 3, 2017, Final Four MOP Joel Berry II scored 22 points as UNC beat Gonzaga, 71–65, to give Williams his 3rd national championship, surpassing mentor Dean Smith for NCAA Tournament championships.[48] Just as in the previous year, the Tar Heels finished with a 33–7 overall record and a 14–4 ACC record.[49]
In 2017–18, the Tar Heels were ranked at No. 9 in the AP and Coaches poll. Forwards Isaiah Hicks, Kennedy Meeks, Tony Bradley,[50] and Justin Jackson had left, while the team added Cameron Johnson. This season, the team did not win the ACC regular season or tournament title. However, the Heels earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and ended the season 26–11 after being eliminated by Texas A&M in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
In the
Heading into the 2020–21 season, expectations were high after the lackluster, injury-filled performance of the season prior. Coming into the season with a talented freshman recruiting class, the Tar Heels looked to rebound from their 14–19 record. Senior Garrison Brooks was picked as the preseason ACC Player of the Year yet failed to live up to the preseason hype. Sophomore forward Armando Bacot led the Tar Heels in scoring, and the emergence of freshman Kerwin Walton provided the Tar Heels with an outside shooter that had been missing on the previous year's team. However, the Heels stumbled out of the starting block, beginning conference play with an 0–2 record in the ACC. However, the Tar Heels rebounded, and returned the favor to the Blue Devils, sweeping them in the two regular season matchups. Freshman guard Caleb Love scored 25 points and 7 assists against Duke in Durham, breaking an at-Duke assist record set by Ty Lawson in 2009. On February 27, 2021, Williams earned his 900th career victory as a head coach against Florida State, becoming the fastest coach to reach that mark, over the fewest number of games. The Tar Heels finished with a record of 18–11, losing to Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
On April 1, 2021, Roy Williams announced his retirement as the head coach of the Tar Heels after 48 years in coaching and 33 years as a collegiate head coach, 18 of which came at the helm of his alma mater.[53] Williams ended his coaching career with 903 career wins, 485 of which came at Carolina, and three national championships, all as the Tar Heel head coach. At the time of his retirement, Williams was third all-time in NCAA Division I victories. Williams is the first coach to earn 400 or more wins at two different schools. Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham announced that evening that a search for the next head coach would begin immediately, with the search being headed up by Cunningham and UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz.
Hubert Davis (2021–present)
Four days after Williams retired, assistant coach and former Tar Heel player
The Carolina Way
Dean Smith was widely known for his idea of "The Carolina Way", in which he challenged his players to "Play hard, play smart, play together".[55] "The Carolina Way" was an idea of excellence in the classroom, as well as on the court. In Coach Smith's book The Carolina Way, former player Scott Williams said, regarding Dean Smith: "Winning was very important at Carolina, and there was much pressure to win, but Coach cared more about our getting a sound education and turning into good citizens than he did about winning."[56] "The Carolina Way" was evident in many practices the players would implement, including pointing to the player who assisted in a basket, giving him credit as an act of selflessness. This "Thank the Passer" practice is used throughout basketball today.[57]
Streaks
The Tar Heels own several notable streaks in the history of college basketball. They appeared in either the NCAA Tournament or National Invitation Tournament (NIT) every year from 1967 to 2001. This includes 27 straight appearances in the NCAA tourney from 1975 (the first year that more than one team in each conference was assured of a tournament bid) to 2001—the longest such streak in tournament history until it was broken by Kansas in March 2017. The Tar Heels also notched 37 straight winning seasons from 1964 to 2001, the third-longest such streak in NCAA history, behind UCLA's streak of 54 consecutive winning seasons from 1948 to 2001, and Syracuse's streak of 46 seasons. They also finished .500 or better for 39 years in a row from 1962 (Dean Smith's second year) to 2001, the third-longest such streak in NCAA history, behind Kentucky's streak of 61 consecutive seasons from 1926 to 1988 (the Wildcats were barred from playing in 1952–53 due to NCAA violations) and UCLA's 54-season streak.
From the ACC's inception in 1953 to 2001, the Tar Heels did not finish worse than a tie for fourth place in ACC play. By comparison, all of the ACC's other charter members finished last at least once in that time. From 1965 to 2001, they did not finish worse than a tie for third, and for the first 21 of those years they did not finish worse than a tie for second.
All of these streaks ended in the 2001–02 season, when the Tar Heels finished 8–20 on the season under coach Matt Doherty. They also finished tied for 7th in conference play, behind Florida State and Clemson—only their second losing conference record ever (the first being in the ACC's inaugural season).
Additionally, the Tar Heels went 59–0 all-time in home games played against the
The Tar Heels have three stretches of being ranked for more than 100 consecutive weeks in the AP Poll. They spent 172 consecutive weeks in the rankings from the start of the 1990–91 season until early in the 1999–2000 season, the second-longest streak in college basketball history at the time behind only UCLA's run of 231 consecutive weeks from 1966 to 1980. That streak has since been passed by Duke's run of 200 consecutive weeks from 1997 to 2007 and Kansas' 231 consecutive weeks from 2009 to 2021. They were also ranked for 171 consecutive weeks from 1973 to 1983, and for 106 consecutive weeks from 2014 to 2020.[60]
By the numbers
- All-time wins – 2,368[61]
- All-time winning Percentage – .734[61]
- NCAA championships – 6[61]
- NCAA Tournament runner-up – 6[61]
- All-Americans – 49 players chosen 78 times[61]
- ACC regular season titles – 33[3][61]
- ACC Tournament titles – 18[61]
- NCAA championship games – 12[62]
- NCAA Final Fours – 21 (most all-time)[62]
- NCAA Tournament appearances – 52[62]
- NCAA Tournament wins – 131 (most all-time)
- No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament – 18[62]
- Number of weeks ranked all-time in the top 25 of the AP Poll – 953[13]
- Number of times defeating the No. 1 ranked team in the country – 14[63]
Victories over AP No. 1 team
North Carolina has 14 victories over the AP number one ranked team.[64][65][66][67]
- January 14, 1959 – UNC 72, No. 1 NC State 68
- January 12, 1980 – No. 15 UNC 82, No. 1 Duke 67
- November 21, 1987 – UNC 96, No. 1 Syracuse 93
- January 18, 1989 – No. 13 UNC 91, No. 1 Duke 71
- March 17, 1990 – NR UNC 79, No. 1 Oklahoma, 77
- February 5, 1992 – No. 9 UNC 75, No. 1 Duke 73
- February 3, 1994 – No. 2 UNC 89, No. 1 Duke 78
- February 5, 1998 – No. 2 UNC 97, No. 1 Duke 73
- March 8, 1998 – No. 3 UNC 83, No. 1 Duke 68
- January 17, 2004 – UNC 86, No. 1 Connecticut 83
- April 4, 2005 – No. 2 UNC 75, No. 1 Illinois 70
- March 4, 2006 – No. 13 UNC 83, No. 1 Duke 76
- December 4, 2013 – NR UNC 79, No. 1 Michigan State 65
- February 20, 2019 – No. 8 UNC 88, No. 1 Duke 72
Honored and retired jerseys
Retired numbers
- Associated Press Player of the Year
- Oscar Robertson Trophy, formerly known as the United States Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Year
- National Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year
- Sporting News Player of the Year
- John R. Wooden Award
- Naismith College Player of the Year
Eight players (including Jack Cobb, whose jersey did not have a number) have had their numbers retired. Tyler Hansbrough's number 50 is the eighth to be retired, after he won all six major player of the year awards during the 2007–08 season.[69]
North Carolina Tar Heels retired numbers[70] | ||||
No. | Player | Position | Tenure | |
---|---|---|---|---|
10 | Lennie Rosenbluth | SF | 1954–57 | |
12 | Phil Ford | PG | 1974–78 | |
20 | George Glamack | F |
1938–41 | |
23 | Michael Jordan | SG | 1981–84 | |
33 | Antawn Jamison | F |
1995–98 | |
50 | Tyler Hansbrough | PF, C |
2005–09 | |
52 | James Worthy | SF | 1979–82 | |
– | Jack Cobb | F
|
1923–26 |
51 former North Carolina men's basketball players are honored in the Smith Center with banners representing their numbers hung from the rafters. Of the 51 honored jerseys, eight are retired.
Honored jerseys
In addition to the eight retired jerseys, an additional 43 jerseys are honored. Joel Berry II, Justin Jackson, and RJ Davis most recently qualified to have their jerseys honored.[71][72]
To have his jersey honored, a player must have met one of the following criteria:[73]
- MVP of a National Championship-winning team
- Member of a gold medal-winning Olympic team
- First- or second-team All-America
- ACC Player of the Year
- NCAA Tournament MOP
Notable players and coaches
Tar Heels inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
To date twelve Tar Heels have been inducted into the
Year | Player(s) | Inducted as | Role at UNC |
---|---|---|---|
1970 | Ben Carnevale | Coach | Head Coach |
1977 | Frank McGuire | Coach | Head Coach |
1983 | Dean Smith | Coach | Head Coach[74] |
1986 | Billy Cunningham | Player | Player[75] |
2000 | Bob McAdoo | Player | Player[76] |
2002 | Larry Brown | Coach | Player[77] |
2003 | James Worthy | Player | Player[78] |
2007 | Roy Williams |
Coach | JV Player, Head Coach[79] |
2009 | Michael Jordan | Player | Player[80] |
2018 | Charlie Scott | Player | Player[81] |
2019 | Bobby Jones | Player | Player[82] |
2022 | George Karl | Coach | Player[83] |
Tar Heels in the Olympics
Year | Tar Heel | As a | Country |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | Larry Brown | Player | United States |
1968 | Charles Scott | Player | United States |
1972 | Bobby Jones | Player | United States |
1976 | Walter Davis | Player | United States |
1976 | Phil Ford | Player | United States |
1976 | Bill Guthridge | Asst. Coach | United States |
1976 | Mitch Kupchak | Player | United States |
1976 | Tommy LaGarde |
Player | United States |
1976 | Dean Smith | Head Coach | United States |
1980 | Al Wood | Player | United States |
1984 | Michael Jordan | Player | United States |
1984 | Sam Perkins | Player | United States |
1988 | J.R. Reid |
Player | United States |
1992 | Michael Jordan | Player | United States |
1992 | Henrik Rödl | Player | Germany |
2000 | Vince Carter | Player | United States |
2000 | Larry Brown | Asst. Coach | United States |
2004 | Larry Brown | Head Coach | United States |
2004 | Roy Williams |
Asst. Coach | United States |
2016 | Harrison Barnes | Player | United States |
2020 | Henrik Rödl | Head Coach | Germany |
Current players in the NBA
- Cole Anthony, Orlando Magic
- Harrison Barnes, Sacramento Kings
- Reggie Bullock, Houston Rockets
- Cameron Johnson, Brooklyn Nets
- Nassir Little, Phoenix Suns
- Day'Ron Sharpe, Brooklyn Nets
- Coby White, Chicago Bulls
- Leaky Black, Charlotte Hornets
Current players in international leagues
Source:[84]
- Nate Britt, Yoast United (BNXT League)
- Isaiah Hicks, Seoul Samsung Thunders (Korean Basketball League)
- Desmond Hubert, Al-Arabi (Kuwaiti Division I Basketball League)
- TBL)
- Brice Johnson, Toyama Grouses (B.League)
- Christian Keeling, BC Rustavi (Georgian Superliga)
- Justin Knox, San-en NeoPhoenix (B.League)
- Championnat National A)
- Sterling Manley, Sichuan Blue Whales (CBA)
- Luke Maye, Baxi Manresa (Liga ACB)
- James Michael McAdoo, Sun Rockers Shibuya (B.League)
- Kennedy Meeks, Cholet Basket (LNB Pro A)
- Justin Pierce, BC Nokia (Korisliiga)
- Reyshawn Terry, Plateros de Fresnillo (LNBP)
- Casademont Zaragoza(Liga ACB)
- Yamagata Wyverns(B.League)
- Kenny Williams, Kolossos Rodou (Greek Basket League)
- JP Tokoto, Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israeli Basketball Premier League)
NBA coaches and executives
- New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets
- Billy Cunningham, former head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, former part owner of Miami Heat
- Walter Davis, former advance scout for the Washington Wizards
- Charlotte Bobcats
- Charlotte Bobcats
- George Karl, former head coach of the Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers
- John Kuester, advance scout for the Los Angeles Lakers, former head coach of the Detroit Pistons
- Mitch Kupchak, general manager of the Charlotte Hornets, former general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers
- Bob McAdoo, former assistant coach of the Miami Heat
- Doug Moe, former head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs
- New Jersey Nets, Washington Wizards, Philadelphia 76ers
- Sam Perkins, former vice president of player relations for the Indiana Pacers
- Buzz Peterson, assistant general manager of the Charlotte Hornets
- Rasheed Wallace, former assistant coach of the Detroit Pistons
- Scott Williams, assistant coach of the Milwaukee Bucks
- Joe Wolf, head coach of the Greensboro Swarm, former assistant coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets
Other fields
- Ronald Curry, former wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders (2002–2008)
- Brad Daugherty, NBC and NASCAR television analyst and part-owner of JTG Daugherty Racing NASCAR race team (2008–present)
- James Delany, commissioner of the Big Ten Conference(1967–1970)
- Brendan Haywood, college basketball announcer for CBS Sports
- Time Warner Cable SportsNet
- Wes Miller, head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team
- Julius Peppers, former defensive end for the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers (2002–2018)
- King Rice, head coach of the Monmouth Hawks men's basketball team
- Jerry Stackhouse, head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team
- Richard Vinroot, former mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina (1961–1963)
Rivalries
Traditional rivalries
Team | UNC record | First meeting | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Duke | 145–117 | 1920 | Carolina–Duke rivalry[85] |
NC State
|
166–80 | 1913 | North Carolina–NC State rivalry[86] |
Wake Forest | 165–69 | 1911 | North Carolina–Wake Forest rivalry[87] |
Other major programs
Team | UNC record | First meeting | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
UCLA | 11–3[88] | 1968 | |
Kentucky | 25–18 | 1924 | Kentucky–North Carolina basketball rivalry |
Kansas | 6–6[89] | 1957 | First meeting was the 1957 national championship game .
|
Indiana | 6–10[90] | 1961 |
UNC alumni defeated UCLA alumni 116–111 in an exhibition game in Los Angeles, CA on June 29, 1987.[91]
Carolina Basketball Museum
The Carolina Basketball Museum[92][93] is located in the Ernie Williamson Athletics Center and contains 8,000 square feet (740 m2).[94] It was built to replace the old memorabilia room in the Dean Smith Center.[94] Designed by Gallagher & Associates, the cost of construction was $3.4 million.[94] The museum opened in January 2008.[95][96]
UNC junior varsity basketball team
The UNC junior varsity basketball team was originally used at North Carolina as freshmen teams because freshmen were not allowed to play on the varsity team until the NCAA granted freshmen eligibility in the Fall of 1972.
After most schools decided to disband their J.V. squads, North Carolina's athletic department opted to keep the team so that non-scholarship students were given the chance to play basketball for UNC. North Carolina also uses their J.V. team as a way for varsity assistant coaches to gain experience as head coaches, such as the current coach, Hubert Davis. Roy Williams was a J.V. coach for eight years before he was hired at Kansas.
Students at UNC are only allowed to play on the team for two years, and then they are given a chance to try out for the varsity. The J.V. team also serves as a way for coaches to evaluate players for two years on the J.V. so they will better know what to expect when they try out for varsity later in their careers.
UNC's J.V. team plays a combination of teams from Division II and III schools, some community colleges, and a few prep schools from around the North Carolina area.
Seasons
Records
- Most all-time Final Four appearances
- Most ACC regular season titles
- Longest winning streak at home versus one opponent[97]
- Most Consecutive 20-win seasons[98]
- Most consecutive top-three ACC finishes[99]
- Most No. 1 NCAA Tournament seeds[100]
- Most 25-win seasons
- Most Sweet Sixteens
Home venues
- Bynum Gymnasium(1910–1924)
- Tin Can (1924–1938)
- Woollen Gymnasium (1938–1964)
- Carmichael Auditorium(1965–1986)
- Dean Smith Center (1986–present)
References
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