The Power Five: North Carolina’s 5 Greatest Basketball Teams
Dec 18, 2013; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; A full court flag is displayed during the national anthem before a game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Texas Longhorns at the Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
2. 1956-’57
Record: 32-0; defeated Kansas (3 OT) to win national championship
In 1952, North Carolina brought in a northern transplant to guide the Tar Heels program, and five years later the pipeline he developed that funneled talent from one of the country’s most fertile areas to Chapel Hill fueled UNC’s last undefeated team and first NCAA Tournament champion.
Frank McGuire arrived from St. John’s and immediately began to stockpile talent from the New York City area that would pay dividends with North Carolina’s endurance survival in becoming the second undefeated NCAA champion and first from the ACC.
Ten of the 13 players on the Tar Heels’ roster hailed from New York or New Jersey led by senior forward Lennie Rosenbluth, who averaged nearly 28 points per game and was named that season’s Collegiate Player of the Year by the Helms Foundation. Junior guard Tommy Kearns, like Rosenbluth, was a first-team All-ACC pick, while junior forward Pete Brennan earned second-team honors.
In an era where only a conference tournament titlist pocketed an invite to the national tourney, North Carolina had to slip past Wake Forest 61-59 in an ACC Tournament semifinal before running past South Carolina 95-75 in the championship contest.
The Tar Heels then bested Yale, Canisius and Syracuse to reach the Final Four in Kansas City before withstanding a test of endurance and stamina that remains unparalleled in NCAA Tournament history.
Rosenbluth scored 29 points and Bob Cunningham added 21 to help push UNC past Michigan State 74-70 in a three-overtime white knuckler. A rubber-legged North Carolina group then had to take the court just one night later against a Kansas team anchored by a 7-foot center phenom named Wilt Chamberlain.
McGuire sent out the 5-foot-11 Kearns to the center circle to face off with Chamberlain for the opening tip, and the Tar Heels held a 29-22 halftime advantage. But the Jayhawks rallied to level the score before Rosenbluth — who scored 20 points — fouled out with less than two minutes remaining.
The teams closed regulation tied 46-46, and after trading baskets in the first extra session, they both went scoreless in the second overtime. Kansas held a 53-52 lead in the closing seconds of the final overtime before junior North Carolina center Joe Quigg converted on two free throws with six seconds left. Quigg then turned defensive hero when he swatted away a pass to Chamberlain preserving the Tar Heels’ title.