Rank ‘Em: UNC Basketball’s Coaches Since 1944

#5 – Ben Carneval – Record: 52-11 .825 (1944-1946, 0 National Championships)

Carneval amassed an impressive record in his two years at the helm at UNC with an .825 winning percentage. He helped the team reach their first NCAA national championship game in 1945-46 where they lost to

Oklahoma A&M (currently Oklahoma State). At the time he coached in North Carolina, it was not a “destination job” as it is today. He used UNC as a stepping stone to coach at Navy from 1947-1967. Even though his time as the coach was short-lived he made the most of it and showed the UNC fan base that they were capable of competing at a national level. The job was not high profile enough at the time for a great coach to stick around

After coaching at UNC, Carneval’s Navy teams saw great success as well. He qualified for the NCAA tournament five times with an Elite Eight appearance in 1954 and a Sweet 16 in 1959. He won 257 games after leaving Chapel Hill bringing his career total to 309. Carnevale passed away at the age of 92 in March of 2008. His son is a professional golfer who has victories on the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour.

Carnevale was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970 and into the college basketball hall of fame in 2006. I put him ahead of a guy like Doherty because he got UNC to their first title game before they had a reputation as a big-time basketball school.