UNC Tar Heels at Dean Smith Center
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is home to one of the most successful college basketball programs of all time. The UNC Tar Heels play at the Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center, more commonly known as "The Dean Dome." The arena first opened in 1986 and currently seats 21,750. They are coached by Hubert Davis, succeeding Roy Willams in 2021. The Tar Heels have won seven national championships, including three in the 21st century in 2005, 2009 and 2017.
UNC Tar Heels Men's Basketball History
The University of North Carolina first fielded a men's basketball team in 1910, and achieved success early on, joining the Southern Conference upon its founding in 1921. In 1924, Norman Shepard coached UNC to an undefeated record and their first (retroactive) national championship in his only season at Chapel Hill. In 1953, UNC was among seven programs to splinter from the SoCon to form the Atlantic Coast Conference. UNC won their first tournament championship under Frank McGuire in 1957, capping off an undefeated season with a triple-overtime upset over Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas. Dean Smith replaced McGuire in 1961, transforming North Carolina from an already successful program into a national power before retiring in 1997. Smith's "four corners" offense emphasized ball control and, as college basketball did not have a shot clock until the '80s, managed to shut down teams completely in close contests. James Worthy led the Tar Heels to the 1982 national championship, with the legendary Michael Jordan hitting the game-winning shot against Georgetown to clinch it.
UNC has many local and national rivals, but the most contentious and bitter by far is with Duke University. The two schools first played each other in 1920 when Duke was still known as Trinity College, and their proximity in distance (just 10 miles down Tobacco Road) and in conference fostered the competition. The two schools have combined for 12 national championships, with North Carolina having the slight edge in both titles and head-to-head record. In 2019, UNC beat Duke twice, defeating the No. 1 Blue Devils in their first meeting, before losing 74-73 in the ACC conference tournament. UNC went on to get a No. 1 seed in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, falling to eventual national semifinalist Auburn in the Sweet 16.
