Record: 26-5, 9-3 (1st place)
ACC Tournament: Won
NCAA Tournament: Lost in national semifinal
Final AP Ranking: 2
All-ACC Players: Bob McAdoo (1st), Dennis Wuycik (1st), Bill Chamberlain (2nd), George Karl (2nd)
All-Americans: Bob McAdoo (1st)
Carolina had experienced a slight dip since their incredible three-year run from 1967 to 1969. The 1970 team, led by All-American Charlie Scott, ended up being somewhat disappointing. The 1971 team didn’t have any big stars, but Dean coached ’em up and they wound up having a much better season than expected, winning the regular season and the NIT championship – back when that meant something.
Despite the loss of South Carolina, the league on balance was getting stronger at this time. Maryland was on the rise under Lefty Driesell, Virginia had their best teams ever behind standout Barry Parkhill, NC State was starting to put together that mid-1970s juggernaut, Duke was hanging onto a little bit of post-Vic Bubas strength, and Tates Locke had something going at Clemson.
North Carolina had to replace two key players from the previous year, and the only impact player coming up from the freshman team was Bobby Jones. They needed another piece, and that piece was Bob McAdoo. The Greensboro native had played two years at Vincennes Junior College in Indiana. He was famously the only junior college player Dean Smith ever signed. He fit in perfectly, giving the Tar Heels the interior scoring and rebounding presence they needed.
But it wasn’t all McAdoo. Dennis Wuycik was a tremendous player who earned first team All-ACC honors. Bill Chamberlain and George Karl made it onto the second team. Steve Previs was a pass-first point guard who made things go, and Jones provided great defense, rebounding, and 67% shooting.
After an early season loss at Princeton, they turned it on. There were but three more regular season losses, all on the road, by a total of five points. The Tar Heels faced second seed Maryland in the ACC Tournament final. The Terps were a program on the rise, led by sophomore big men Tom McMillen and Len Elmore. But the Tar Heels’ balance was too much.
As luck would have it, Carolina’s first NCAA Tournament game would be in the round of 16 against… South Carolina. These two teams had gone toe-to-toe the previous two seasons in the ACC, and the Tar Heels still had a bitter taste in their mouths about the Gamecocks’ 52-51 ACC Tournament title win the previous season. South Carolina was still formidable, but with John Roche and Tom Owens gone, they were no match for the Tar Heels.
Next up was the Chuck Daly-coached and third-ranked Penn Quakers. With McAdoo, Wuycik, and Karl leading the way, Carolina pulled away in the second half for a 73-59 victory.
The end came in the Final Four against Florida State. It was the Seminoles’ first and still only appearance in the Final Four. McAdoo was terrific, but the rest of the group was a little off, and FSU held on for a 79-75 win. (Fun fact: Florida State was coached by Hugh Durham. Durham made the Final Four one other time in his career with the 1983 Georgia Bulldogs, who defeated the Tar Heels in the regional final before losing to NC State in the Final Four. So both of Durham’s Final Four teams upset a Dean Smith-coached Carolina team, then lost the next game.)
This was a great offensive team. They are one of only 14 teams in ACC history to average 89+ points per game. They set the ACC record for FG% in a season at 52.8% (later broken by 1975 Maryland). And they are one of only two teams since 1970 (1990 Duke is the other) to average more than 30 free throw attempts per game.
At this point in Dean Smith’s career, he had been to four NCAA Tournaments. In each of those tournaments, the Tar Heels as ACC champions received a bye into the round of 16, which meant they had to win two games to win the region and advance to the Final Four. In those first four tournaments, they won all eight of those games and made the Final Four all four times. In the process, here are the teams they beat:
- 1967: #5 Princeton and #9 Boston College
- 1968: #3 St. Bonaventure and #8 Davidson
- 1969: #9 Duquesne and #5 Davidson
- 1972: #6 South Carolina and #3 Penn
That’s pretty good, huh? Eight NCAA regional games against Top 10 opponents, 8-0 record, four Final Fours?