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Jul 09 2009

North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball History

Posted by admin in north carolina tar heels, tags: acc basketball, Bill Guthridge, Chapel Hill, Dean Smith, Frank McGuire, Matt Doherty, North Carolina Basketball History, North Carolina Tarheels, roy williams

Although the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been in existence since 1795, athletics at Chapel Hill were unheard of until the start of the 1900’s. As an independent, The Tar Heels played and won their first ever basketball game on January 27^th, 1911 against Virginia Christian University.

North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball History – The Early Years

In the beginning, after the first Tar Heel team was formed at the University, officials had to ask then track and field coach Nathaniel Cartmell, a 2 time former Olympian, to be North Carolinas first head coach. Although little is known about the early Tar Heel years, it is known that by the 1920’s, North Carolina was already underway in establishing it’s excellence in basketball. In fact, the 1924 team went on to an undefeated season and counted Kentucky as one of its many victories. As a member of the Southern Conference, the Tar Heels in the period between 1921 and 1953 posted an impressive record of 304 -111. They won the Southern Conference Championship 8 times during this stretch and in the eyes of many observers, had become one of the premier teams in the country.

North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball History – The Frank McGuire Years

Although his reign was short, Coach McGuire certainly had an impact on the Tar Heels program. In 1953, North Carolina split from the Southern Conference to become a founding member of the now powerful Atlantic Coast Conference. It was in 1957 that McGuire finally won the first NCAA National Championship for the University of North Carolina against Wilt Chamberlain and the Kansas Jayhawks. Although McGuire consistently had winning seasons, he was forced to resign in 1961 due to UNC being put on probation for recruiting violations. But what many thought was the downfall of the program was actually a blessing in disguise as one of McGuire’s assistants, Dean Smith, was given the job of leading the Tar Heels forward.

North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball History – The Dean Smith Years

There can be no debate about the kind of influence Dean Smith had on the basketball program at UNC. If you take a step back and look at the tremendous amount of success Smith had during his 37 year career at the University, you can see why Smith remains a basketball legend. It never mattered what type of players he had, Smith always had the knack of getting the most from his talent. When he unexpectedly retired in 1997, Smiths teams had appeared in 27 NCAA Tournaments capturing 2 national titles. His teams also won the ACC regular season 17 times, the ACC Tournament 13 times and just for a bit of variety won the NIT Tournament once.

North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball History – The Bill Guthridge Years

When Dean Smith retired, the job was passed to Smith’s long time assistant Bill Guthridge. Using the talent Smith had previously recruited, he led the Tar Heels to 2 Final Four appearances but unfortunately no further titles. Guthridge retired after 3 seasons.

North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball History – The Matt Doherty Years

To many, these were considered the “dark years” highlighted by losing seasons and dismal on court play. Thankfully Doherty’s reign only lasted until 2003. From that point forward, the magic once again started to happen when UNC brought in one of its favorite sons in the person of Roy Williams.

North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball History – The Roy Williams Years

This saga surely will surely turn out to be a story for the ages. With William’s already capturing 2 NCAA titles with the Tar Heels, the future looks incredibly bright for UNC. Let’s face it, it doesn’t matter what talent he may have, the man can flat out couch and do what is necessary to satisfy the faithful Tar Heel fans, and that simply is to “just win”.

Refs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Tar_Heels_men%27s_basketball

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Cartmell

http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/062309aab.html

http://raleighdurham.about.com/od/proandcollegesports/a/UNC-bball.htm

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/nav

http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/williams_roy00.html