March Madness: The 5 best UNC teams to never win a title

UNC 1998

This team was phenomenal. Carolina was clearly the best team in the nation in 1998. This season was full of highlight reel dunks and alley-oops by Vince Carter, also known as “Vinsanity,” and “Half Man, Half Amazing.”

The Tar Heels were led by the 1998 Wooden and Naismith Awards winner Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Ed Cota, Ademola Okulaja, and Shammond Williams. First year head coach, Bill Gutheridge instituted a “starting six.”Makhtar N’Diaye was the sixth player who started several games throughout this season. Gutheridge would have one of the players mentioned above to come off the bench.

In a game against the Duke Blue Devils at the Dean Dome, Jamison scored 35 points, but only touched the ball for 53 seconds. Jamison averaged 22.2 points and 10.5 rebounds a game this season. Antawn Jamison was the consensus National Player of the Year in 1998.

In the 1998 Final Four, UNC lost to the Utah Utes coached by the deceased Rick Majerus. The Utes were led by current NBA point guard, Andre Miller (Denver Nuggets). North Carolina finished the season with a 34-4 record. In the 1998 NBA Draft, Jamison was selected #4 overall by the Toronto Raptors and Carter was selected #5 overall by the Golden State Warriors. Toronto and Golden State swapped each player on draft day in 1998.