2003 Top 50 List: No
Dan Collins List: Yes
Mitch Kupchak was an outstanding big man who was ACC Player of the Year in 1976. He was part of the first class to play varsity for four years after the NCAA reinstated freshman eligibility. After playing a supporting role on the 1973 and 1974 teams, he came into his own in 1975, averaging 18.5 points and 10.8 rebounds on his way to being named first team All-ACC. And after spending the previous two years in the shadow of David Thompson and NC State, the Tar Heels finally got the best of the Wolfpack in the ACC Tournament final, capping off perhaps the most exciting tournament ever. Advancing to the NCAAs, the Tar Heels suffered a disappointing loss in the Sweet 16 to a Syracuse team they should have beaten, in a game in which UNC shot 65%. How do you lose a game shooting 65%?
(As a side note, the Tar Heels won the regional third place game 110-90 over Boston College, and Kupchak led the way with 36 points. That was the last year that regional third place games were played. The Final Four continued playing a third place game until 1981. I, for one, would be in favor of bringing back the Final Four third place game. It would be fun to watch. Start it at 6:00 and get fans warmed up for the championship game.)
The next year, Kupchak was even better. He outpaced NC State’s Kenny Carr and teammate Phil Ford for ACC Player of the Year. The Tar Heels breezed through the regular season, going 24-2 and winning their last 12 games. But March proved a disappointment as they were upset by Wally Walker and Virginia in the ACC Tournament final – the first time UVa had ever reached the final, much less won it. The blow was softened by the fact that the Tar Heels as the regular season champion received the ACC’s second ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
But getting the at-large bid rather than the automatic bid meant that the Tar Heels had to play eighth-ranked Alabama in the first round. That would never happen today, having two top ten teams play in the first round, but at the time, the NCAA did not have a seeding system. As best I can tell, that started in 1979. From 1975-1978, they had a predetermined bracket, with the 16 automatic bids matched up with the 16 at-large teams, with matchups determined by conference affiliation. It was predetermined that the ACC at-large team would match up with the SEC champion in the Mideast region.
Then again, as poorly as the Tar Heels played, it might not have mattered. Ford had 2 points and 5 turnovers, and Kupchak could muster only 8 points on 3-of-11 shooting. Alabama’s Leon Douglas dominated the game with 35 points and 17 rebounds, and Kupchak’s career came to an end in a 79-64 loss. Despite the disappointing ending, Kupchak was named second team All-American by both the AP and the UPI. He went on to have a solid NBA career as a player and a long career as an NBA executive which continues to this day as GM of the Charlotte Hornets.