North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball

"North Carolina Tar Heels basketball" redirects here. For the women's team, see North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball.

North Carolina Tar Heels
2024–25 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team
UniversityUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
First season1910–11
All-time record2,372–860 (.734)
Athletic directorBubba Cunningham
Head coachHubert Davis (4th season)
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
LocationChapel Hill, North Carolina
ArenaDean Smith Center
(capacity: 21,750)
NicknameTar Heels
ColorsCarolina blue and white[1]
   
Uniforms
Home jersey
Team colours
Home
Away jersey
Team colours
Away


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 college basketball team of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels have won six NCAA championships (1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, and 2017) in addition to a 1924 Helms Athletic Foundation title (retroactive). North Carolina has won a record 133 NCAA tournament matchups while advancing to 31 Sweet Sixteen berths (since 1975), a record 21 Final Fours, and 12 title games. It is the only school to have an active streak of reaching the National Championship game for nine straight decades (no other school has done it in more than six straight) and at least two Final Fours for six straight decades, all while averaging more wins per season played (20.7) than any other program in college basketball. In 2012, ESPN ranked North Carolina No. 1 on its list of the 50 most successful programs of the past fifty years.

North Carolina's six national championships are third-most all-time, behind UCLA (11) and Kentucky (8). UNC has also won eighteen Atlantic Coast Conference tournament (ACC) titles,[2] and thirty-three ACC regular season titles.[3] The program has produced many notable players who went on to play in the NBA, including four of ESPN's top 74 players of all-time: Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Vince Carter, and Bob McAdoo (tied for most with UCLA).[4] Many Tar Heel assistant coaches and players have gone on to become head coaches elsewhere.[5]

From the Tar Heels' first season in 1910–11 through the start of the 2021–22 season, the program has amassed a .735 all-time winning percentage (second highest all-time), winning 2,294 games and losing 829 games in 111-plus seasons.[6][7][8] The Tar Heels also have the most consecutive 20-win seasons, with 31 from the 1970–71 season through the 2000–01 season.[9] On March 2, 2010, North Carolina became the second college basketball program to reach 2,000 wins in its history. The Tar Heels are currently 3rd all-time in wins. The Tar Heels are one of only four Division I men's basketball programs to have achieved 2,000 victories. Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke are the other three.

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 AP Poll an all-time record 927 weeks,[13] has beaten AP No. 1 ranked teams a record fourteen times,[14] has the most 25-win seasons with 38,[15] and has the most consecutive top-three ACC regular season finishes with 37.[16] North Carolina has ended the season ranked in the top 25 of the AP Poll 51 times and in the top 25 of the Coaches' Poll 53 times.[15] Furthermore, the Tar Heels have finished the season ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll six times and ranked No. 1 in Coaches' Poll seven times.[15] In 2008, the Tar Heels received the first unanimous preseason No. 1 ranking in the history of either the Coaches' Poll or the AP Poll.[17][18]

  1. ^ "Primary Identity" (PDF). Carolina Athletics Brand Identity Guidelines. April 20, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "2008–09 Quick Facts" (PDF). Tarheelblue.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  3. ^ "UNC-Duke Postgame Notes". Tarheelblue.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  4. ^ "Ranking the top 74 players of all time: 10–1". ESPN.com. May 13, 2020. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  5. ^ Johnson, Raphielle (February 8, 2015). "List of head coaches on Dean Smith's coaching tree is an impressive one". NBCSports.com. NBC Universal. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  6. ^ "School Index". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  7. ^ "All-Time Winningest Teams" (PDF). NCAA.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 12, 2011. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
  8. ^ "North Carolina Tar Heels". Espn.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
  9. ^ "UNC versus NC State game notes". February 3, 2007. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  10. ^ "UNC Outlasts Oklahoma, 72–60". Tarheelblue.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
  11. ^ a b "Jacobs: Numbers To Savor". Tarheelblue.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  12. ^ a b "Tournament History Facts" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
  13. ^ "College Poll Archive – Historical College Football and Basketball Polls and Rankings". www.collegepollarchive.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  14. ^ "North Carolina Tar Heels Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2007. Retrieved December 4, 2006.
  15. ^ a b c "2020 UNC Basketball Record Book (PDF)" (PDF). University of North Carolina Athletics. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  16. ^ Peeler, Tim (November 2, 2001). "Once again, Duke leads the way". CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved March 16, 2008.
  17. ^ "Tar Heels Are Unanimous Preseason No. 1 In Coaches Poll". Tarheelblue.com. October 30, 2008. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2008.
  18. ^ "Tar Heels voted as first unanimous preseason #1 in AP poll". ESPN.com. October 31, 2008. Archived from the original on November 3, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2008.