The North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team plays at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Tar Heels originally did not play within any athletic conference, but joined the Southern Conference in 1921 when it was first established. After playing in the Southern Conference for 22 years, North Carolina left in 1953 to join the newly created ACC. The Tar Heels play their home games in the Dean E. Smith Center, named after the 15th head coach Dean Smith.
The team has had 18 head coaches in its history and has played two seasons without one. The program has played 2,947 games in 106 seasons from the 1910â€"11 to the 2015â€"16 season. During those seasons, three coaches have led the team to a NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship: Frank McGuire in 1957; Smith in 1982 and 1993; and Roy Williams in 2005, 2009, and 2017. Smith, in 1971, led North Carolina to its only National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship. North Carolina also received a retroactive national championship for the 1923â€"24 team coached by Norman Shepard, which was given by the Helms Athletic Foundation. Eleven coaches have won the conference regular season by having the best overall regular season record with the Tar Heels: Norman Shepard, Monk McDonald, Harlan Sanborn, Bo Shepard, Bill Lange, Walter Skidmore, Ben Carnevale, McGuire, Smith, Matt Doherty, and Williams. Eleven coaches have won the conference tournament with the Tar Heels: Norman Shepard, McDonald, Sanborn, Bo Shepard, Lange, Skidmore, Carnevale, McGuire, Smith, Bill Guthridge, and Williams.
Smith had the longest tenure at North Carolina, coaching for 36 seasons, and is the all-time leader in games coached (1,133) and wins (879). Smith's 879 wins were the most of any NCAA men's Division I coach at the time of his retirement in 1997. Smith was the head coach for United States Men's Basketball which won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1976 while also working as the head coach of North Carolina, a feat that no other North Carolina coach has replicated. Several coaches both played for and coached basketball at North Carolina. McDonald and Doherty played for and coached the men's varsity basketball team, and both played on teams that were awarded national championships, McDonald on the 1923â€"24 team and Doherty on the 1981â€"82 team. Williams both played for and coached the North Carolina men's junior varsity team. Brothers Norman and Bo Shepard are the only two head coaches to be related to each other. Norman Shepard is the all-time leader in winning percentage, having never lost a game. Statistically, Cartmell has been the least successful coach of the Tar Heels, with a winning percentage of .510. No coach has had an overall losing record at North Carolina. Six coaches have received coaching awards while the head coach of North Carolina: Carnevale, McGuire, Smith, Gutheridge, Doherty, and Williams. Carnevale, McGuire, Smith, and Williams have all been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The current coach is Williams, who was hired in 2003.
Statistics
Carolina Basketball: Locker Room Celebration Post 76-72 Win at Duke - This locker room celebration has been a long time coming for the Tar Heels as the team gets its first win at Duke since 2012. The win also secured the regular ...
- Statistics are correct as of the end of the 2016â€"17 college basketball season.
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