The 1992–93 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the 1992-93 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 34–4 overall, won the ACC regular season title with a 14–2 record and won the 1993 national championship. They were coached by Dean Smith, who won his second national championship in his thirty-second season as head coach of the Tar Heels. They played their home games at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Season summary
The 1992–93 team was led by George Lynch, Eric Montross, Brian Reese, Donald Williams, and Derrick Phelps. The Tar Heels started out with an 8–0 record and were ranked #5 in the country when they met #6 Michigan in the semi-finals of the Rainbow Classic. The Wolverines, led by the Fab Five in their sophomore season, won 79–78 to on a last-second shot. North Carolina bounced back with nine straight wins before losing back-to-back road games against unranked Wake Forest and #5 Duke. After seven more straight wins, the Tar Heels were ranked #1 heading into the last week of the regular season (their first #1 ranking since the start of the 1987–88 season). North Carolina beat #14 Wake Forest and #6 Duke to close out the regular season and clinch the top seed in the ACC tournament. North Carolina reached the tournament final, but the Tar heels, shorthanded due to an injury to point guard Derrick Phelps, lost 77–75 to Georgia Tech. Nonetheless, North Carolina was awarded the top seed in the East Regional of the NCAA tournament, defeating #16-seed East Carolina (85–65), #8-seed Rhode Island (112–67), #4-seed Arkansas (80–74), and #2-seed Cincinnati (75–68) to reach the final four in New Orleans.
In the national semi-finals, Smith's Tar Heels defeated his alma mater Kansas (coached by future North Carolina head coach Roy Williams) 78–68, setting up a rematch with the #3-ranked Michigan Wolverines in the finals.
The national title game was a see-saw battle throughout but is best remembered for Chris Webber's time out call with seconds left when Michigan had none remaining. The Wolverines were assessed a technical foul, and North Carolina subsequently won the game 77–71, giving Smith his second national championship.
Personnel
Schedule and results
!colspan=9| ACC tournament
!colspan=9| NCAA tournament
2014-15 North Carolina men's basketball record book . Retrieved 2015-Apr-12.BB State . Retrieved 2015-Apr-12.
Awards and honors Dean Smith, Naismith College Coach of the Year Donald Williams, NCAA Men's MOP Award
Team players drafted into the NBA Year Round Pick Player NBA club 1993 1 12 George Lynch Los Angeles Lakers1993 NBA draft, Basketball-Reference.com 1994 1 9 Eric Montross Boston Celtics1994 NBA draft, Basketball-Reference.com
Kevin Salvadori, Matt Wenstrom and Derrick Phelps also went on to play in the NBA, but were undrafted.
References