by Pat (Alan) Thompson

Bob Culton was inducted into the Chapel Hill High School Hall of Fame in 1991 "in recognition of sports achievement and citizenship." Coach Culton was a man who played a large role in my young life and the lives of many others. It seems like everyone has a hall of fame now, but if anyone ever deserved induction, it was Bob Culton.

Chapel Hill High School Hall of Fame Coach Bob Culton

I moved to Chapel Hill with my mother and sister in August of 1959. We came to town so that Mom could study for her Master's degree at Carolina. We lived all over the place – Victory Village, Bolin Heights (behind The Ranch House) and, finally, in a little brick house on Valley Park Drive. I attended Estes Hills Elementary School on Estes Drive, and my class (1966) was the last to finish at the old junior and senior high schools on West Franklin Street.

Coach Culton and I spent a lot of time together when I was in high school – two or three hours a day, five days a week, from mid-August until the end of February and sometimes beyond. He was the Athletic Director at Chapel Hill High School, as well as the head football, basketball and tennis coach. He even taught me how to drive one summer – we drove around the empty lot behind the high school where the junior high football team once practiced.

Whenever I hear the words "strict disciplinarian" his image pops into my head but, when I think about it, there wasn't really that much discipline going on because nobody wanted to cross him. There was plenty of "team" discipline – laps and wind sprints and push-ups – but individual displays of defiance requiring a response from him were rare. There was no dialogue – communication was one-way (I can still hear his favorite admonition: "Just be quiet!"), and it was only the minimum necessary to get his point across. At a time when questioning "authority" was becoming commonplace, no one questioned his. We were still adolescents, of course – we called him "Party Bob" behind his back (way, way behind his back) because of the stern demeanor, but everyone who played for him respected him.

In those days we always had pretty good basketball teams, and tennis was just for fun, but I believe that Coach Culton really cared about football. Unfortunately, we usually weren't very good as opposed to, say, Lincoln High School, who was always in the state playoffs. One of Lincoln's teams, I believe it was in 1962, won the state championship, undefeated and unscored upon. We never managed anything like that but we came close to a championship once.

1964 Chapel Hill High School football coaches. Front row right is Bob Culton next to Joe Augustine. Behind them are Barney Garret and Owen Hale.

We practiced and played our home games back then at Lions Park in Carrboro (Lincoln played there, too), but there were no locker facilities there, so every day we dressed in the locker room at school and boarded an old yellow bus for the ride to the field. Coach Culton had one varsity assistant, Joe Augustine, who, interestingly, was the President of the Chamber of Commerce in his spare time. There were no weight rooms or training tables or summer flag leagues – we were expected to show up on August 15 in decent shape and ready to play.
The high school program, of course, was overshadowed by the University's teams. Even when we played well, the crowds were sparse. As Jack Williams, Sports Editor for The Chapel Hill Weekly, once put it: "The Wildcats are the New York Mets – in reverse. The more the Mets lose, the bigger the crowds. But here, the more the Wildcats win, the emptier the stands."

The 1964 Wildcats, led by Captains Donnie Clark and Danny Leigh, carried high expectations. The '63 team had won seven games and finished second in the conference, and most of those players returned for the '64 season. Chapel Hill had not been to the state playoffs since 1948. We managed to lose our first three games by a total of ten points, including Coach Culton's first-ever loss to Oxford, the team that he had coached before coming to Chapel Hill in 1955. We didn't lose again until Thanksgiving Day.

On the left is 1964 Chapel Hill High School football team co-captain Donnie Clark next to Coach Culton 

The stars of that team, besides Clark and Leigh, were Tim Farmer and David Gibson and two transfers from Lincoln High School, Arthur Dockery and Gene Hines. We outscored our opponents 218-87, and advanced to the Western Regional finals against Waynesville High School, a team from the western-most part of the state. It was a home game for us, but different from all the other home games we had ever played. The two teams met on Thanksgiving afternoon at Kenan Stadium. Only a few sections were filled, of course, but it was the biggest crowd we ever had.

The great 1964 Chapel Hill High School football team that included two black players who had transferred from Chapel Hill's all-black Lincoln High School.

When I was a kid, every Saturday afternoon when Carolina was playing at home I waited – along with other young, non-paying fans – outside the double gates on the north side of the stadium. When the first half was over, the gates were thrown open and we entered with a rush, dispersing throughout every aisle and section of the great concrete structure. Sometimes I found a seat and sat down. More often I perched on one of the steps at the bottom of an aisle. When the game was over, I stepped onto the field, moving carefully among the cleated giants, imagining that I was one of them. The Waynesville game was as close as I was going to get to that dream, and I think a lot of my teammates felt the same way.

We lost, 20-13. I can't remember much about the game except that the Waynesville players looked more mature than we did. Several of them had full beards, and there was some muttering about "post-grads" in the locker room after the game, but I don't recall much grousing. We had played well for our coach, and gone further in the playoffs than any team from our conference in years. Coach Culton was named Coach of the Year, but he didn't have much time to enjoy it – basketball practice began the Monday after Thanksgiving. As it turned out, that team, too, came within a single game of playing for a state championship. We beat Waynesville by thirty points in the first round of the state tournament, but somehow it didn't make up for that loss at Kenan Stadium on Thanksgiving Day.

* * * * *

We lived wonderful lives in Chapel Hill in those days, free of the restrictions that children encounter today, and I have long wanted to do something to try to preserve that sense of freedom before those of us who knew it are gone. So: I've written a  novel entitled A Hollow Cup – the place, New Hope, and the characters and the plot are all imaginary, but I've tried to capture the pace of our lives in the little college town that we loved so much. Hardcover and softcover are available now on Amazon. BN.com and the eBook should be out shortly. The plot is love and murder, and the themes are loss of place and culture and the politics of race. Set primarily in the 1960's, A Hollow Cup is a mythical rendering of "the Southern part of Heaven" before it began to disappear.

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Chapel Hill Elementary School photo

Let me start of by saying I am a University of North Carolina sports fan. I also enjoy the UNC-Duke rivalry as much as the next fan. Passionate loyalty is just part of the fun of being a Carolina fan. However, many instances suggest that this rivalry sometimes goes too far. I feel Tarheel fans need to draw a line on how much passion is too much.

photo courtsey of Dr. Harold Kushner

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by George Steel

In the late 1950s, my brother and I rode our bikes from Victory Village, where we lived with our Mother who was a UNC grad student, all over the south side of Chapel Hill, from Purefoy Road down Mason Farm Road, over to and up S. Columbia Street, down Raleigh (or South) Road to Country Club Road, and up to E. Franklin Street. This was our territory. Summers, we headed toward Woollen Gym by cutting across Manning Drive from Victory Village, going around the east side of Memorial Hospital, around the west side of Kenan Stadium, down to the Bell Tower parking lot, up to South Road, and left, past the Bell Tower and Tin Can. Summers seemed longer then.

Woollen Gym – Bowman Gray pool is inside the structure on the right.

Free Swim Lessons

There in the summer at Woollen Gym, or just "Woollen," the University provided free morning swim lessons for the children of Chapel Hill, five days a week, two sessions each summer. A couple of hundred kids crowded the Bowman Gray indoor pool and the Navy (Kessing) outdoor pool. Kids in the beginners swim class sat on the indoor pool deck with their feet dangling in the shallow end. Mike, UNC wrestling coach, swim teacher, and director of the program, stood in the water, jock strap riding up his back, facing the kids. "Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick!!" Dozens of pairs of little legs furiously churned up a small squall into which Mike disappeared from sight.

An old shot of Bowman Gray pool from the deep end. The pool is enormous, 50-meters long. The balcony is in the distance on middle right side of the photo. The bridge that divides the pool into a 25-meter side and a 25-yard side wasn't installed yet.  (Courtesy North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill)

Kessing pool – 1945. The Kessing Pool first opened in 1943 and provided aquatic training for the U.S. Navy's pre-flight divisions in World War II. Former presidents George H. W. Bush and Gerald Ford, and my father, Logan Steel, trained at the center. Kessing Pool is 50 yards long.  (Courtesy North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill)

Woollen's locker rooms were on the same level as the pool deck. From the balcony overlooking the indoor pool, my brother and I entered the men's side by going down the stairs to the left. At the beginning of each season, we were sized and outfitted for swim suits. We undressed in a small locker room and with all the other boys, lined up single-file, and walked naked down the subterranean hall, to the main men's locker room. There the workmen behind the "cage" estimated your waist size (24", 26") and issued you, like dealing a playing card across a table-top, a freshly laundered (and pressed) swim suit. They gave you a basket to store your clothes in, which you gave back to the men at the window for storage, before you went to the pool. When swim lessons were over, you returned to get your basket and a fresh white towel, indelibly marked "WG" in black.

You were not permitted to wear your own swim suit. It might be dirty, and polio had not yet been forgotten. The pool was perfectly clean; I have not seen a cleaner pool since. The girls had to wear caps to cover their hair. The boys' swim suits were incredibly ugly and ill-fitting heavy cotton things, usually a size or two too large with stretched waists and strings hanging out, not to mention other things. After putting on the suits, the boys showered just enough to get wet, and stepped through the chlorinated foot baths onto the indoor pool deck about midway between the shallow and deep ends, or out the back way to the outdoor pool. The girls entered onto the indoor pool deck from behind the diving boards.

The swim classes progressed in skill level from the beginners in the shallow end, 3 feet deep, to the most advanced in the deep end, 12 feet deep. There were probably 4 or 5 classes in the indoor pool, likewise the outdoor pool.

The teachers, mostly teen-agers, helped you learn by having you swim out to where they stood in the water. Then, after a little instruction, they pushed you back to the side of the pool. Soon you could swim all the way across the pool. The teacher promoted you to the next class when they felt you were ready. In the more advanced classes, you learned other strokes, or dove off the diving board.

Sometime during my second summer of swim lessons, feeling overlooked by the teachers of the elementary-level class I was in, I promoted myself to the classes in the outdoor pool, skipping past the remaining indoor pool classes. There was no formal certificate for promotion, so the next day I just mixed in with the other kids already in the outdoor pool. My technique and skills were not quite their level, but no one tossed me back. I had bluffed my way to the outdoor pool!

Kids Using The Gym

Use of Woollen by the kids of Chapel Hill was not strictly limited in those days. Maybe it was the times. What was it about those days? Certainly everything has its price now. The Woollen staff had better things to do, and so looked the other way. My brother and I spent hours and hours there. You could enter the gymnasium area from the back side onto the wooden floor. There were basketball courts, climbing ropes, pommel horses, uneven and parallel bars, and gymnastic rings. You could play pickup basketball games. My brother and I and friends played hours of "BB", often challenging the "College Joe's". Woollen was where the UNC Basketball Team practiced and played until Carmichael opened in 1965. It was not unknown to sneak into the Gym for UNC games either. I know I saw Billy Cunningham miss a dunk one time.

Recreational Swim

After swim lessons were over, you could get a "Dreamsicle" from the lady with the ice cream motor bike parked at the top of the parking lot by the pool. Then you could stay around until "12 to 1", the recreational swim period, when kids and families could swim in the outdoor pool. A pool pass was required, but at a nominal fee. Mother always made sure we had one. The kids played "Marco Polo," dove off the high dive, or practiced their cannon balls and jackknives. Sometimes the indoor pool was open to recreational swimming. A bridge bisected the indoor pool into a 25-meter side and a 25-yard side. You could duck under the bridge and come up inside it. There was another recreational swim period later in the afternoons, and longer recreational swim periods on Saturdays. I absolutely thrived on swimming at the UNC indoor and outdoor pools at Woollen!

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The Chapel Hill Swim Club
by George Steel, with George Coxhead, Jr and Peter Barnes

The Chapel Hill Swim Club 50+ Anniversary

When was the Chapel Hill Swim Club formed? Photographs show the Chapel Hill Swim Club team as early as 1953.

The Chapel Hill Swim Club, June 16, 1953.
Roland Giduz photographic collection, North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library

The Chapel Hill Swim Club, August 9, 1955
Roland Giduz photographic collection, North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library

1961 – Chapel Hill Swim Club Re-organized, Re-energized Under New Leadership

In 1961 the parents of Chapel Hill re-organized and re-energized the Chapel Hill Swim Club under the leadership of Dr. and Mrs. Henry Clark of Chapel Hill, parents of 3 children on the team, Laura, Toolie, and Anne.

Dr. Clark was the board leader for most of those early years after the team was re-organized, although others also served. A key contributor was Martha McKee, whose son, Ken, and daughter, Kathy, were on the team. Ken was a high school All-American at Pine Crest (FL) and a college all-American at the University of Washington. Ken was probably the best swimmer to come out of the Chapel Hill Swim Club in the early years. Kathy has coached for 30 years -- most recently, in Charlotte.

The Chapel Hill YMCA Swim Club (CHYSC) traces its history to the CHSC. The CHYSC web site states that the CHYSC was originally formed in 1961 as the Chapel Hill Swim Club, “in coordination with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as part of an effort to provide a competitive swimming opportunity for young people in the greater Chapel Hill area.” On the back of the new CHYSC t-shirts is printed “Celebrating 50 Years of Swimming in Chapel Hill.”

Courtesy CHYST

For many Chapel Hill kids, the CHSC was a major part of their lives - indeed, perhaps the most important part of their lives! -- during the 1960s.

Making the Team

In the 1950s and into the mid1960s, the University provided free swim lessons to the boys and girls of Chapel Hill. Advanced swimmers were invited to CHSC try-outs conducted by UNC swim Coach Pat Earey in April and May. Then the big day came and you might start swimming with the CHSC “Junior team.”

I (GS) made the Junior team when I was 10 (1960). Occasionally, the Junior team practiced in a lake or swimming hole located outside of town. George Coxhead thinks it may have been the lake at Camp New Hope, the Presbyterian Church campground about 5 miles out on old highway 86. The Junior team would meet at the Woollen and then car pool out to the lake. The object was to build up our endurance. The challenge to the young swimmers was to swim all the way across the lake and back. Well, believing I one of the few who hadn’t accomplished this feat yet, one day when we were about to get out of the water and go home for the day, I decided that now was the time for me to take off and swim across that lake. The coach sent a couple of boys to pull me in, but I was determined to keep going. The coach called the boys back when he saw that I would almost rather drown than quit.

The Chapel Hill Swim Club (Junior team), August 8, 1960
Front row, left: Max Scroggs. 2nd row, 3rd from right: Jimmy Blaine, George Steel, coach Charlie Jones
Roland Giduz photographic collection, North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library

Pool Passes

The University provided the CHSC its Bowman Gray and Kessing (Navy) pools at Woollen Gym for practice. However, unlike the free swim lessons sponsored by the University in the 1950s and 1960s, you had to buy a pool pass. To be eligible for a pool pass, your parent had to work at UNC in some capacity. My Mother had a staff job in the Southern Historical Collection in UNC’s Wilson Library. If your parent did not have a permanent job at UNC, some parents worked temporary jobs, for instance, at Student Registration in Woollen Gym, and so were eligible to buy a pool pass. Each year we worried that the University was going to tighten up eligibility requirements for a pool pass.

At first, then, Chapel Hill Swim Club membership was limited to kids with a parent who worked for UNC. As there were no other pools, not to mention swim teams in Chapel Hill at the time, this seems a shame for kids who could not get passes. We who were able to participate feel very fortunate.

Later, in 1968, the CHSC began renting space at the Chapel Hill Tennis Club, and thereby opened up eligibility for membership. In 1978, the team began renting space at the new Chapel Hill YMCA. In 1986, the CHSC officially merged with the YMCA and became the Chapel Hill YMCA Swim Club.

Coach Pat Earey

Coach Earey was the UNC men’s swimming team coach for 17 years from 1957-1974. He was instrumental in the success of the Chapel Hill Swim Club. He was a key supporter of the team and helped in every way. Coach Earey arranged for some parents to work temp jobs at UNC Student Registration in Woollen Gym so that their children could be eligible for pool passes.

Coach Earey often coached the early morning practice, or he would bring in an assistant coach from the UNC swim team. There was Pepper Tice in 1960-1961, Bob Bilbro who coached in 1962-1963 (Lou Perlmutt called him Bill Bobro), and Mike Lawler in 1964. Other coaches were Chuck Wrye, Mike Koontz in 1967, and Frank Comfort in 1968.

Coach Earey's sons, Mike and Tom, swam when they were young, before turning to other sports. Mike was one of the team's best swimmers at ages 8-10 and 11-12, primarily as a backstroker. Mike later played basketball for Coach Dean Smith at UNC.

As far back as Junior team days, my (GS) strongest stroke was backstroke. And even though I was a year older than Mike, I never could beat him, whether in practice or in a meet. He was my chief rival on the team. I tried and tried; but I always came in second to Mike. When I turned 13 and moved into the 13-14 age group, Mike was 12 and in the 11-12 age group, and so I didn't have to compete against him that year. I knew though, that when he turned 13, I would go back to being second best. I was secretly relieved (forgive me, Lord) that he took up basketball instead.

UNC Swim Teams of the mid-1960s

UNC had powerful swim teams then. Under Coach Pat Earey, UNC won ACC titles in 1963 and 1964 with swimmers like Thompson Mann, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Gold Medalist and World Record Holder; Harrison Merrill, three-time All-America and seven individual ACC titles; Phil Riker, 1964 Olympic team member, six-time All-America and1966 NCAA winner of the 100-yard butterfly; and Pete Worthen, 1963 All-America. Beginning in 1965, Coach Earey permitted the best of the older CHSC swimmers to train with the UNC swimmers who stayed in Chapel Hill during the summer. All-America Jim Edwards -- who missed the 1964 Olympic team by 0.1 seconds in the 200 meter freestyle -- came to Chapel Hill in summer 1965 and was the best swimmer in the pool. For the young CHSC swimmers, it was magical to practice with Jim and the other UNC stars. I was thrilled when Thompson Mann showed me his backstroke technique and backstroke flip-turns.

Thompson Mann	Phil Riker	Harrison Merrill

Peter Barnes remembers that Coach Earey coordinated a "swim show" in the Navy (outdoor) pool as part of the UNC graduation each year. There was a reception around the deck of the pool, and many of us on the swimming team would "perform" silly strokes, such as swimming one armed freestyle. This was a small way for us to say thank you back to Coach Earey, as well as to have fun.

From Peter and all of us, the CHSC could never thank Coach Earey enough; his kindness and the countless thousands of hours he contributed were vital to the team. Coach Earey continued to provide tremendous support even though his own sons moved on to other activities.

That voice you heard for so many years over the public address system announcing UNC football and basketball games was Coach Earey’s.

Coach Earey died in January, 2005 at age 82. 

AAU Swimmers

CHSC team members were card-carrying Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) swimmers. Your AAU membership and card may have cost you $0.50 annually. We carried our AAU card in our wallet until it wore out. Now, USA Swimming is the governing body of the sport. The Amateur Sports Act of 1978 removed the AAU from any governance role, and enabled the chartering of a national governing body for each sport, such as USA Swimming, or the United States Figure Skating Association.

Practice

With about 50 swimmers, the CHSC practiced in the Navy pool mornings at 6am or 8am, depending on what else might be going on. In the summer of 1964, we practiced after the Olympic hopefuls. The Navy pool was not heated. Everyone shivered in the early morning chill.

After morning practice, some of us rushed off to teach in the University-sponsored free swim lesson program. Or, we might go for something to eat at the Pine Room and be back for the “12-to-1” free swim. The team practiced again around 6pm.

The 1963 Chapel Hill Swim Club Team
(Left to right)
5th row: Ken Wilson, Robbie Hawkins, Cap Gentry, Ross Scroggs, Pete Sommerfeld, Louis Perlmutt, Bill Ritchie, George Adkins (Steel), Toolie Clark, Peter Barnes, Jack Spitznagel, Johnny Lindahl, Doug Wilson.
4th row: Chellie Martin, Jean Spitznagel, Anne Clark, Becky Fuller, Rebecca (Boo-ki) Whitaker, Linda Lindahl, Julianne Tenney, Laura Clark, Margaret Holman, Janet Kirkman, Kathy McKee, Anne Coxhead
3rd row: Henry Morrow, George Coxhead, Rob Ritchie, Bruce Calhoun, Eddie Barker, Cliff Kreps, Steve Bowden, Larry Lindahl, David Gentry, Dick Wilson
2nd row: Coach Bob Bilbro, (unkn), (unkn), (unkn), (unkn), (unkn), Peggy Spitznagel, Coach Chuck Wrye
1st row: Rick Parish, Dale Evert, (unkn), Arturo Reyes, Ken McKee, (unkn), David Kirkman, Fred Geer
Courtesy George Coxhead Jr.

The 1960s Swim Seasons

The Chapel Hill Swim Club was a summer team in those days; now most club teams are year-round. The first summer meet each year was the Raleigh Swim Association (RSA), short course yards meet.

Then followed the Eastern Invitational around the end of June at Lindley Park in Greensboro, hosted by the Greensboro Swimming Association (GSA). This was a huge meet, extending over 2 or 3 days. The meet attracted hundreds of swimmers from Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. In 2010, GSA hosted its 55th annual Eastern Regional.

Peter Barnes remembers that the finals of the Greensboro meet were televised beginning in the early 1960s, which was very novel. Pilot Life sponsored the meet and the TV broadcast. It was the first time most of us were on TV -- and people in Chapel Hill could see us, if they were not able to travel to Greensboro (and if Channel 2 reception was decent). The TV element made Greensboro even more special as a swim meet.

Then there was the Carolina AAU Swimming championship in High Point, NC, mid-July, in that big High Point pool.

We finished up with the Carolina Junior Olympics Long Course meet at Revolution Park pool in Charlotte, around the middle of August.

There were also meets in Shelby, Salisbury, Spartanburg, and even Columbia.
The CHSC had some great relays in those days, in all the age groups. Our boys team was usually battling for 1st, 2nd or 3rd at each meet with Johnston Memorial YMCA (JMY) of Charlotte, and Greensboro Swim Association (GSA). However, JMY was the State’s dominant team in the 1960s with Franke Ann Bell as Coach.

June, 1962 Chapel Hill Weekly newspaper article
Courtesy George Coxhead Jr.

Laura Clark

Laura Clark was one of the club's top athletes, as the above article relates. Laura won the Most Valuable Swimmer award in 1962, when she was 14.

The General Greene Motel

Below is an old-fashioned picture post card image of the General Greene Motel. The CHSC stayed overnight there in the mid-1960s during many of the Greensboro and High Point swim meets.

General Greene Motel, Greensboro, N.C.
On super highway U. S. 70 and 29 (3 miles southwest junction 220 and 421). 60 modern sound-proof air-conditioned rooms with free T.V. and phones. Combination tub and shower, wall-to-wall carpet. Conference room or apartment. Swimming pool. Howard Johnson's adjoins.

It was at the General Greene where my (GS) Mother, who was chaperoning one year, discovered me and a female team member (name withheld to protect the innocent) "in bed" one afternoon after trials. Actually, we were sitting on the bed together, against the backboard, while other swimmers were also in the room, watching TV. Boy, was she (my mother) fuming. Made us get up.

The 1966 Chapel Hill Swim Club Team
(Left to right)
Back (5th) row: Doug Wilson, Peter Barnes, Cap Gentry, George Steel, Pete Sommerfeld, Johnny Lindahl, David Taylor, (unkn), Larry Lindahl, Dick Wilson, Henry Morrow
4th row: (unkn), Becky Fuller, Julianne Tenney, Kris Gentry, Marilyn Morris, Jean Spitznagel, Anne Geer, Peggy Spitznagel, Anne Coxhead, Margaret Warden.
3rd row: (unkn), George Coxhead, Tim Denny, (unkn), (unkn), Kathy McKee, Janet Kirkman, Linda Lindahl, (unkn), Fred Geer.
2nd row: Ken McKee, (unkn), Eddie Barker, David Kirkman, Dale Evert, David Gentry, Steve Bowden, Rick Parish, (unkn)
1st row: [younger] Bowden, (unkn), (unkn), (unkn), (unkn), (unkn), Janie Coxhead, [younger] Lindahl, (unkn)
Courtesy George Coxhead, Jr

1968 Chapel Hill Swim Club Team
Courtesy George Coxhead, Jr

How It All Began

In the 1950s and 1960s, the University opened up its pools and facilities at Woollen Gym and provided free swim lessons to hundreds of Chapel Hill kids. There you find the beginning of what is now huge in Chapel Hill. In 1961, parents worked in cooperation with the University to re-organize the Chapel Hill Swim Club for the advanced boys and girls. Some great coaches became involved. The University let the CHSC use the Bowman Gray and Navy pools for practice at the cost of a pool pass.

Today, swimming facilities and programs are abundant in Chapel Hill. There are as many as 7 swim clubs. Swim lessons, lap swimming, water aerobics, competitive swimming, scuba training or just relaxation are all available.

And so, at a certain point in time, a great University and the parents and children of the town, came together and began a swim program that hundreds of kids enjoyed and benefitted from, and taught many of us a love of swimming that has lasted a lifetime.

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by Charly Mann

There have been many great games in UNC's glorious basketball history, but the most memorable one for me was the 1968 NCAA championship game played against the most dominant team of all time, the Lew Alcindor-led (later to change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) UCLA Bruins. The UNC Tar Heel team featured All-American senior Larry Miller and UNC's first black player, sophomore guard Charlie Scott, who was unquestionably the best player in the ACC that year.

Sophomore Charlie Scott scores an incredible basket. (In those days freshmen could not play on the varsity team)

It is remarkable to recall that while in 1967 Chapel Hill and UNC were considered the most liberal and progressive town and university in the South, the community still had a strong current of racial turmoil. Even though UNC had admitted its first black undergraduate in 1955, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had outlawed segregation in schools and universities, Charlie Scott was that year the first black varsity athlete in the school's history.

Charlie Scott against four Duke defenders dribbles down the court for a layout in 1968. Even though Scott continued to be the best player in the ACC for his entire three years at Carolina, he never was awarded ACC player of the year. It was always given to a white player.  

The 1968 UNC team united as one to reach the national championship and create a new racial mold not only for UNC, but for the entire ACC in subsequent years. Because of this team, skin color would quickly lose significance in college athletics in Chapel Hill and the rest of the South. Much of this credit goes to two brave and highly talented men, UNC Coach Dean Smith and Charlie Scott. Smith had played basketball and coached at the University of Kansas which had integrated their basketball program twelve years earlier, and he had long wanted to break the color barrier at Carolina. Scott, like Jackie Robinson, had the athletic ability, charisma, and courage to transcend the racial divide in Chapel Hill and UNC. His white team mates tried to make Scott as comfortable as they could, but Scott has said he could not hang out with whites socially during his time in Chapel Hill, and he had to endure great loneliness. It was Dean Smith who he was closest to, and even today he refers to Smith as his "father".

The great 1968 UNC basketball team after winning the ACC championship. To the right of Charlie Scott is Larry Miller who wore jersey #44. Directly over the trophy is center Rusty Clark who was a Morehead scholar and went on to a distiguished career as a surgeon.

The national championship game was played on the evening of Saturday, March 23 1968, and was not broadcast on a major network (In 1969 NBC televised the first NCAA final game). The final four was played in Los Angles which gave UCLA a definite home court advantage, but was not even shown on local television in that area. I was a senior in high school that year and was living near Los Angeles. I desperately wanted to see my Tar Heels prevail over the heavily favorite Bruins, but in order to see the game I had to pay $20 for tickets for me and my girlfriend, Linda Hunter, to watch a closed-circuit telecast in black and white at the Anaheim Convention Center. I had my hopes up since UNC had soundly beaten Ohio State 80 – 66 in the semi-finals the night before. Instead UNC was crushed in one of the worst mismatches in NCAA history by what Dean Smith called "the greatest college basketball team ever assembled". In truth it was one man, the 7 foot two Lew Alcindor who scored 34 points and took away at least 10 UNC points by blocking 5 shots headed right into the basket. The final score was 78 to 55.

In 1968 being number 2 was something all my fellow Tar Heels and I could be proud of. We had fielded our best team ever and had finally broken the color barrier. Not only that, I knew we would return to the NCAA finals, and we did the very next year in 1969. In the following years more black players joined the UNC basketball team and the Tar Heels became even better making 14 more final four appearances and capturing the national championship four times, in 1982, 1993, 2005, and 2009. UNC has also now tied UCLA for the most final four NCAA tournament appearances at 18.

College basketball's most dominant big man, Lew Alcindor, blocks a Charlie Scott shot in the 1968 UNC - UCLA national championship game 

Televised highlights of the 1968 UNC – UCLA National Championship Basketball Game

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by Charly Mann

The highly regarded UNC football team kicks off their 2010 season on September 4th in Atlanta against LSU. On November 11th, 1961 I was eleven years old and sat in Kenan Stadium to witness LSU totally humiliate the Tarheel football team 30 - 0 on a very sad UNC Homecoming day.

#26 of LSU, Wendell Harris, scores an easy long running touchdown in the first quarter against UNC in Kenan Stadium in 1961

In 1961 I was a veteran of Kenan stadium, having spent almost every home game for the previous three years walking up and down the stadium stairs selling cold bottled soft drinks out of buckets filled with ice during the games. On this day however I was in the stands as a spectator with my father who told me I was going to witness one of the best football teams of all time. My Dad even told me that the LSU second-string team was better than most college first-string teams in the country.

The day was cool and cloudy and the game started at 2:00 instead of the typical 1:00 PM kickoff because it was being televised regionally. There were 28,000 fans in attendance, which was larger than most games, but at least 30% of the stadium seats were empty. Considering the population of Chapel Hill was only about 10,000 then and UNC's enrollment was about the same, this meant almost everyone in town was at the game.

LSU-UNC Game Day Ad with team rosters from November 11th, 1961. If you look closely you can see that year Sutton's was then known as Sutton's Drug Store and Toy Cellar. 

The game was incredible if you enjoyed seeing a clinic of great football. LSU was then ranked #4 in the nation, and I remember they were called the Bengal Tigers, but after that game I always thought of them as the Vicious Bengal Tigers. LSU scored easily on two early possessions with long touchdown runs by their halfback Wendell Harris. More amazing to me, Harris was also their primary kicker and scored three extra points and a field goal for his team. Soon after the first quarter LSU's young blond-haired head coach, Paul Dietzel, saw that his first team far outclassed UNC and put in his second string team led by halfback Bo Campbell. Campbell went on to average more than 10 yards per carry against the hapless UNC defense.

A member of the LSU "Chicago Bandits" defensive team tackles UNC fullback in the backfield for a seven yard loss 

As if the LSU offense wasn't dominant enough, their defense was even better, allowing UNC only 37 rushing yards. I also remember the LSU defense had its own name, the Chicago Bandits, which sounded pretty intimidating to me then.

There are two other interesting things I recall about that game. Up until that time every football uniform I had seen had been fairly bland, white and red, white and navy blue, white and light blue, but the LSU uniform really was spectacular with dark yellow pants and bright purple jerseys and gold numbers. The other thing was that a man who sat next to us said that he had seen the 1956 Oklahoma football team play, and this LSU team was better than them. On my way home I asked my Dad what this meant, and he said many considered that Oklahoma team the best football team of all time. That team I later learned had beaten UNC 36 to 0 in the first game of UNC's 1956 football season.

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by Charly Mann

UNC has one of the top college basketball programs in the country despite this season's record. Because of its excellent facilities, traditions, and coaching staff many of the most talented high school basketball players in the country want to play for Carolina for at least one season before joining the NBA. Until 2006 if you were a super talented player like Kobe Bryant or Lebron James you could go straight from high school to a multi-million dollar professional career. Now the NBA has mandated that everyone has to play at least one year for free on the college level before they can turn pro. This has been a blessing and a curse for the Tar Heels.

In 2009 UNC was #1 in the nation and celebrated a great NCAA national championship victory over Michigan State. Carolina had a 34 - 4 record that year. After the season two of Carolina's best players Wayne Ellington Jr. and Ty Lawson decided to leave Carolina after their junior year, and begin to get paid for playing the sport they excelled at. Each of them received multi-million dollar contracts. Without these two superstars Carolina managed only 16 wins this season, and was not considered even among the 65 best teams in the country at the end of the year. If Ellington and Lawson had returned for their senior year Carolina would have been a strong contender for another NCAA title. In the last decade many more of UNC's top players have left early to join the NBA, including Brandan Wright and Joseph Forte.

2009 UNC NCAA Championship team players Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson who both left after their junior year

Despite a poor season this year, UNC is still the most successful basketball program in the nation financially, generating over $27 million dollars in profit. While the University makes a lot of money on these kids the players do not get paid. The minimum salary in the NBA is about $450,000 a year. UNC could afford to pay its top players this amount or more and still have a very profitable program. Some actually believe the NCAA should sanction the payment of top athletes. They say it would give them an incentive to stay in school and graduate, and help maintain cohesiveness in the top programs. Another solution being offered is to make classes optional for top athletes. Currently student athletes must maintain a certain grade point average to be eligible to play, and there is a lot of pressure on faculty members to help keep top players eligible. Even with tutors and a less than demanding curriculum for some athletes, this can be a challenge. I have talked to several former Tar Heel players who tell me how hard it was for them to find time to study, attend class, get enough sleep, and have any kind of normal student life with a "sport" that takes up a large part of both semesters, requires two or more travel days a week, practice, and lots of media attention. Even when they are being students their size and celebrity status make them objects of attention for many of the students and faculty they come in contact with.

An illustration of  what the first UNC basketball game was like

If we want real student basketball at UNC we should go back to the way the program was originally designed. In 1911 a UNC sophomore from Charlotte named Marvin Ritch convinced the UNC track coach Nat Cartmell to coach a UNC basketball team. Ritch took it upon himself to find the players for the team and find opponents to play. Since 1906 basketball had been enjoyed as part the physical education program at the university The UNC coach, Cartmell, knew practically nothing about basketball. UNC's first basketball game was held at Bynum Gym on January 27, 1911 before a crowd of less than 35. The opponent was Virginia Christian College, and UNC prevailed 42 to 21. UNC managed a winning season that first year going 7-4 and knocking off powerhouses as the Durham YMCA, Woodberry Forest, Davidson, and the Charlotte YMCA, but losing to teams that included the University of Virginia and Wake Forest. Attendance never exceeded more than 40 at any of the games. UNC's arch rival of today, Duke, was known as Trinity College in those days, and was not one of the teams the Tar Heels played that year. Trinity (Duke) actually started their varsity basketball program five years before Carolina's, in 1906. Marvin Ritch, the person responsible for starting UNC's basketball program, left UNC after that year and enrolled at Georgetown where he was a standout on their basketball team.

Nat Cartmell was the first UNC basketball coach even though he knew little about the game. He was hired by UNC as the Track & Field coach. 

Many of today's best college basketball players are called counterfeit amateurs because of the special treatment they are afforded by the University and other students, and because they are anxious to make the jump to the lucrative NBA as soon as they can. The truth is that UNC basketball is more a commercial entertainment than a college sport if you consider the attention, ticket costs, and facilities it requires. That is why UNC and other major universities have athletic departments that operate as a business separate from the educational side of the University. "Students" in sports such as basketball and football are recruited and given scholarships not because of their academic ability or potential, but for their entertainment value for producing a winning team. This would be equivalent to UNC giving scholarships to up and coming singing stars in the music department so they would perform at UNC and other schools for money that the University would keep.

This is the only decent photograph I have found of Marvin Ritch the UNC student who was responsible for founding the Tar Heel basketball program.

The most successful basketball coach of all time was John Wooden at UCLA. His UCLA teams won 10 NCAA national championships in a period of twelve years. His last championship team was in 1975. During his time at UCLA he never received a salary of more than $35,000 a year, nor asked for a raise. Today head coach Roy Williams receives a salary from UNC that totals more than $1.2 million a year. I think most of us, including myself, think he is worth it, but this is because college basketball has become so much more than what it was 30 years ago. March Madness for example has become a national pastime. Even in 1968 when almost every family had a color television, I recall that the NCAA final between UCLA and North Carolina was not shown nationally (UCLA won that game 78 to 55).

This is Bynum Gym at the UNC Chapel Hill campus in 1910. It was the site that year of the first UNC varsity basketball game.

UNC's basketball team has a reputation for excellence and dominance that needs to be maintained. In order to do this it has to keep the great talent it recruits or the team will face decimation every year through defections to the NBA. The NBA is especially attracted to great tall college players. As a result, there are virtually no dominant post players on any NCAA team this year over 6 foot nine, and all the top players in the ACC, Pac-10, and Big Ten are 6 foot 8 or less. Almost all the best tall players are going to the NBA after one or two college seasons. The same is true of the magic players who have traditionally made the college game so spectacular. This year's most exciting player, Kentucky freshman John Wall, is almost certain to turn professional at the end of the season.

Coach Roy Williams and the graduating seniors of the 2009 UNC basketball team. Until this year Williams had taken the teams he coached to 20 consecutive NCAA tournaments and won at least one game in each.

Face it, we love Carolina basketball because they win so often, and that is what ignites the student section to show so much excitement and enthusiasm during every home game. Sooner or later the futility of cheering for a mediocre team will dampen this spirit. We owe it to our students and hardcore fans to find some accommodation with the NCAA and NBA to discourage top players from leaving the university early.

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by Charly Mann

The University of North Carolina has one of the most beautiful campuses in the United States. It also boasts one of the top MBA programs in the nation, as well as one of the best urban planning programs. For the last 65 years UNC has strived to excel at something else, football, and has for the most part failed in this effort. The pinnacle for success in football is getting invited to and winning a major college bowl game. By 1940, there were four major Bowl games: The Rose Bowl, The Orange Bowl, The Sugar Bowl, and the Cotton Bowl. During the late 1940s UNC had a very good football team made up of several all-stars who had played football for the military like Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice. During the Justice era UNC got its first three bowl invitations to the Sugar Bowl in 1947, the Sugar Bowl in 1949, and the Cotton Bowl in 1950. Unfortunately, UNC was not a national contender, and lost all three of these games.

1929 UNC team captain Ray Farris and star halfback Strud Nash. The Tarheels went 9 - 1 for the season and were considered the second best team in the country that year. 

UNC desperately wanted to have a great football team, and in 1956 hired Jim Tatum away from Maryland where he had been one of the most successful coaches in the country. He had won the national championship in 1953 and in each of three other years his team had at least ten victories. He had also previously coached Oklahoma to a successful season and a bowl victory in 1947. In Chapel Hill his luck would change. In his first season Carolina won only 2 games, and the following two years his record was a mediocre 6 - 4. There were high hopes for his fourth season in 1959, but he was bitten by a tick and contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted fever and died at the age of 46 before the beginning of the season.

Jim Tatum, UNC football coach 1956 to 1958

Jim Tatum's tombstone is the most prominent in the Chapel Hill cemetery, and reminds those like me of his untimely death and the potential he might have brought to UNC football. Jim Hickey (1920-1997), Tatum's assistant, was UNC's head football coach for the next eight seasons (1959 to 1966). He only managed a single season with a winning record, but in that year UNC did something it had never done before... it won a bowl game.

In 1963 UNC had the best and deepest team it had ever fielded. It featured two All-Americans, halfback Ken Willard and end Bob Lacey. It also had a great quarterback. Junior Edge, who was a brilliant passer and a good runner. UNC went 9-2 that season, losing only one ACC game to Clemson, and to powerful Michigan State on their home field. UNC was invited to play in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida on December 28th against the Air Force Academy.

The UNC - Air Force game was rated a toss-up by sports experts and bookmakers, but the game turned out to be a blowout. The game was dominated by UNC's great fullback, and probably Carolina's best all around athlete, Ken Willard.

UNC fullback Eddie Kesler runs through Air Force defenders at 1963 Gator Bowl game in Jacksonville, Florida

The game began a little inauspiciously with Air Force winning the toss, but after that it was all Tarheels. UNC began its second possession of the game on their own 23. During that drive Willard had runs of 12, 24, and 10 yards. The Big Bull, as he was nicknamed, then smashed it in from three yards for the first score. UNC missed the extra point and with 2:31 left in the first quarter UNC had a 6-0 lead. When Air Force got the ball back they raced down the field to the Carolina 16 before being stopped by an interception at the ten yard line by UNC's Ronnie Jackson. UNC Quarterback Junior Edge then completed a series of long passes to get the ball within a few yards of the end zone and then ran it in himself for the next score. Carolina tried for a two point conversion to make up for the missed extra point but that failed, and UNC now led the game at 12-0 with 9:40 left in the half. The next Air Force drive stalled, and UNC raced down the field for its third touchdown led by second string quarterback Gary Black who threw a series of passes that culminated in a touchdown. Black also tossed another pass for a two point conversion giving Carolina a 20-0 lead. As the first half came to a close the Falcons seemed on the verge of scoring their first touchdown until UNC quarterback Junior Edge, now playing defense, picked off a pass from Air Force Quarterback Terry Issacson at the Carolina two yard line.

Carolina began its second series of the second half with Ken Willard having consecutive runs of 7, 10, and 7 yards. UNC halfback Eddie Kesler then scored from one yard out, and then Edge threw to All American Bob Lacey for another two point conversion giving UNC a 28-0 lead with 4:44 left in the third quarter. Second-string quarterback Black replaced Edge on UNC's next possession and led the team with several long pass plays. The most memorable was a pass to UNC tackle Gene Sigmon, who was made eligible to receive the pass by Carolina's unusual formation. The drive included six consecutive completed passes and ended when Black ran it in from the six yard line. UNC then kicked their first and only extra point of the game making the score 35-0.

UNC Quarterback Junior Edge scores a touchdown for UNC at 1963 Gator Bowl

Throughout most of the fourth quarter UNC used players with names even few loyal fans were familiar with. They were the Carolina third string team, and while they were prevented from running up the score, their defense continued to hold Air Force scoreless for the rest of the game, giving UNC its first ever bowl victory 35 - 0. UNC would not win another bowl game until 1972.

At the end of that day UNC Coach Jim Hickey was the most popular man in Chapel Hill. Ken Willard was voted the game's most valuable player. Hickey had three more seasons at UNC, all with losing records and in 1967 was replaced by Bill Dooley.

A victorious Gator Bowl UNC football team carry coach Jim Hickey on their shoulders

It was not long ago when a UNC college football coach's salary was not that different from that of most professors. Jim Hickey lived in a very modest house on Greenwood Road across from where it intersects with Stagecoach Road. Jim Tatum also had a modest house on Laurel Hill Road, and after he died his wife became a teacher at Durham Academy to make ends meet. In the 1930s the greatest football coach of all time, Knute Rockne, was paid only $10,000 a year at Notre Dame. Today UNC's head football coach Paul Davis has a contract through 2015 that is worth more than $2,000,000 a year, several times higher than any administrator or faculty member at UNC. I love Carolina football but I would rather see UNC recruiting top faculty for its students than spending millions on a football coach.

Contract for UNC football coach Paul Davis: Nov. 27, 2006 – Jan. 15, 2015
Annual Salary: $315,000
Bonuses/Perks:
• In order for UNC-CH to provide the coach with a compensation package that is competitive with other institutions, UNC-CH agrees to make supplemental compensation payments to coach in the following amounts:
o Sept. 2007: $750,000
o Dec. 2007: $250,000
o March 2008: $287,500
o June 2008: $287,500
o Sept. 2008: $287,500
o Dec. 2008: $287,500
o March 2009: $300,000
o June 2009: $300,000
o Sept. 2009: $300,000
o Dec. 2009: $300,000
o March 2010: $312,500
o June 2010: $312,500
o Sept. 2010: $312,500
o Dec. 2010: $312,500
o March 2011: $325,000
o June 2011: $325,000
o Sept. 2011: $325,000
o Dec. 2011: $325,000
o March 2012: $337,500
o June 2012: $337,500
o Sept. 2012: $337,500
o Dec. 2012: $337,500
o March 2013: $350,000
o June 2013: $350,000
o Sept. 2013: $350,000
o Dec. 2013: $350,000
o March 2014: $362,500
o June 2014: $362,500
o Sept. 2014: $362,500
o Dec. 2014: $362,500
• Coach shall receive a $157,000 retention bonus each year
• 1/12 his salary if the football team is invited to participate in the ACC Conference Championship
• 1/12 his salary if football team is invited to participate in a post-season bowl game other than an ACC first or second choice (non-BCS) bowl game or a BCS game
• 1/12 his salary if football team's graduation rate equals that of the undergraduate student body
• $30,000 annual expense allowance per year for entertainment and other purposes to advance the university's football program
• Coach shall be entitled to operate a summer football camp, for which he could receive outside compensation
• Coach shall be entitled to advise and comment on all proposed scheduling of university football games

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by Charly Mann

The University of North Carolina has fielded NCAA champions in Men's Basketball six times, Men's Lacrosse four times, and Women's Soccer 20 times, but has always had a reputation for a mediocre football program. Over the course of the football team's history of more than 120 years they have a winning percentage of only 56%, and most of these wins came over much smaller schools with weaker rosters. Nonetheless, football is a beloved sport in Chapel Hill because it is played in the most beautiful stadium and setting in the country, usually under gorgeous autumn skies. While the weather may be ideal, the coeds in attendance beautiful, and the smuggled in alcoholic beverages invigorating, the final score of most important games is usually disappointing.

Famous Amos Lawrence rushing for a UNC touchdown in the 1980 season

In 1980, something quite amazing happened in Chapel Hill. Not only did UNC field a great football team, but they were in Chapel Hill Memories unbiased estimation the college national champions that year. The team was incredible on both defense and offense, and could have held its own against any NFL team at the time. UNC crushed virtually all of its opponents holding most of them to less than 10 points, while its offensive juggernaut led by the two greatest running backs in Carolina history, "Famous" Amos Lawrence and Kelvin Bryant, was unstoppable. Not only did UNC go undefeated in the ACC, but the only league game that was even a challenge was beating Clemson 24-19 at Death Valley.

Lawrence Taylor, UNC's greatest defensive player, sacks another quaterback

Kelvin Bryant (44) and Amos Lawrence (20) celebrate that UNC is the #1 football team in 1980

As a small footnote, UNC did lose one game that season to highly regarded Oklahoma on their home field in Norman, Oklahoma under the helm of the greatest college football coach of all time, Barry Switzer (can you tell I now live in Oklahoma?), but that game is really irrelevant. You see on December 31, 1980 at the Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston, UNC defeated Texas 16 to 7. Now this is significant for those of us determining the national championship for that year. UNC beat Texas in the state of Texas on a field that was almost like a home game for the Longhorns. Two months earlier Texas had beat Oklahoma at their annual Red River Shootout at the neutral Cotton Bowl in Dallas 20 to 13. It does not take a math genius to see that UNC vindicated their one blemish to clearly establish that they were the best team in the country in 1980. For the record, three of the teams that various polls awarded the National Championship to that year, Florida State, Nebraska, and Oklahoma all had worse records than UNC at 10-2. UNC was 11-1.

The University of North Carolina beats Texas in the Bluebonnet Bowl on Dec 31, 1980 to avenge their only defeat of the regular season

Among the stars of this great team was Amos Lawrence (1977-1980) who had an incredible four seasons at UNC where he rushed for over 1,000 yards. As a freshman he rushed for 286 yards in one game against Virginia. In 1980, he carried the ball for 11 touchdowns. His fellow running back Kelvin Bryant had three consecutive 1,000 plus yard seasons at Carolina. They usually ran behind All-American guard and team co-captain, Ron Wooten. The defense was anchored by the greatest defensive player in the history of football, Lawrence Taylor. As a linebacker he was so intimidating that he instilled fear in our entire opponent's offense. In 1980 alone Taylor sacked the opposing quarterbacks 16 times. His jersey, #98, was later retired in his honor. Fellow linebacker Darrell Nicholson was almost as great as Taylor, and also was an All-American that year. Defensive tackle Donnel Thompson was so good at stopping running backs that his linebackers could concentrate on blitzing the quarterback or additional pass defense.
 

UNC's 1980 regular season football record. They also beat Texas in the Bluebonnet Bowl to finish 11-1. This was UNC's best season record ever.

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by Charly Mann

UNC Wins it All for Dean Smith's first NCAA Basketball Championship March 30th, 1982

The pinnacle of UNC’s basketball greatness was its national championship game against Pat Ewing and the Hoyas of Georgetown in the packed New Orleans Superdome. At that time Dean Smith had been coach of the Tar Heels for twenty-one seasons, but had yet to win a national championship. The Carolina starting five was probably the best team in college history, including Michael Jordan, unquestionably the greatest basketball player of all time, James Worthy, the best player on that team, and now ranked as one of the fifty greatest basketball players of all time, and Sam Perkins, who contributed even more to the Carolina in scoring and defense during his college career than the other two men.

From left to right Sam Pekins, Jimmy Black, Michael Jordan, Matt Doherty, and James Worthy, UNC's NCAA 1982 basketball national champions starting five

Despite this abundance of talent North Carolina was far from dominate in most of its game during that season, losing twice, including once to unranked Wake Forest 55 - 48. To win the ACC tournament championship game against Virginia UNC had to resort to the four corner stall for the last eight minutes, and then be fortunate enough to have Matt Doherty make three free throws in the last thirty seconds for the 47-45 victory. Even in its first game of the NCAA tournament Carolina barely eked out a victory over the much less talented James Madison team 52-50.

In the NCAA championship game UNC needed every bit of luck it could muster. Georgetown's center Patrick Ewing blocked five Carolina shots in the first half, but all  were ruled goaltending, giving the Heels nearly one third of their first half points. Even so Georgetown held a 32 to 31 lead a halftime. For the entire second half the game stayed close, and with 32 seconds left Georgetown had a 62 – 61 lead. At this time Carolina called a time out that set up the most remembered shot in UNC history. Jimmy Black got the incoming ball and with 16 seconds left passed it to freshman Michael Jordan who was wide open, and made an incredible 17 foot jump shot giving the Tar Heels a one point lead at 63 – 62. Still with more than ten seconds left, and in possession of the ball, Georgetown seemed poised to win the game with a final shot until Fortuna the Roman Goddess of Luck intervened. For some inexplicable reason Georgetown guard Fred Brown who had to choose which of his four team mates to pass the ball to for the final shot, instead passed the ball to North Carolina’s James Worthy thus giving the Tar Heels their first basketball NCAA title since 1957.

Remembered as "The Shot", freshman Michael Jordan's 17 foot jump shot against Georgetown for NCAA title

James Worthy, not Michael Jordan, was the key player in the game scoring 28 points, and was named the most outstanding player of the NCAA Tournament. The mystery to me was how this Carolina team was not more dominant in the championship and throughout the season. It is rare for a team to have even one truly great player on its roster, and Carolina that season had three of the greatest in history. While it is true that some of their opponents had great players that year, including Ralph Sampson at Virginia and Ewing at Georgetown, UNC had three, and the two other Carolina starters that year Jimmy Black and Matt Doherty, one of Carolina’s best outside shooters, were outstanding. I’ve always believed Dean Smith was a great coach and exceptional recruiter, but that his coaching style which emphasized a slow moving and low scoring offense designed to get the ball as close to the basket as possible before a shot was taken, was not suited for the talents and athletic ability for most of this team. In those days there was no thirty-five second clock or three-point shot for long range baskets. The 1982 team had the ability to play a fast paced offense, and had a great defense led by Carolina’s all time leading shot blocker Sam Perkins. Finally Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, and Matt Doherty were among the best long range shooters ever to play the game, yet it was very unusual for any Tar Heel to take a shot from what is now considered three-point range.

Another view of Michael Jordan's gaming winning shot in 1982 UNC National Championship game 

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by Charly Mann

I was not yet one, but already a Tarheel born, when Carolina played its1950 football season. That year UNC won three games, and tied one. The other games had unsuccessful outcomes. I know that year's team practiced as hard as any other, but did not receive the glory it would have liked. I have created a tribute to that team with a little photo magic.

Billy Hayes 1950 UNC fullback

1950 Football Season

9/23/1950 vs. N.C. State W 13-7
9/30/1950 @ Notre Dame L 7-14
10/7/1950 @ Georgia T 0-0
10/14/1950 vs. Wake Forest L 7-13
10/28/1950 vs. William & Mary W 40-7
11/4/1950 @ Tennessee L 0-16
11/11/1950 vs. Maryland T 7-7
11/18/1950 @ South Carolina W 14-7
11/25/1950 vs. Duke L 0-7
12/2/1950 @ Virginia L 13-44

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by Charly Mann

The 1924 National Champion UNC Basketball Tarheels

The University of North Carolina was the dominating basketball program in the country in 1923 and 1924. For two years in a row the team won all their games. Prior to 1936 no college basketball team was ever awarded the title of national champion, but in that year the 1924 Tarheels were retroactively given that award.

The highlight of the season was UNC’s first game against Kentucky (for decades the leading basketball power in the country). Kentucky was favored to win the game, but UNC crushed the Kentucky Wildcats 40 to 21.

The 1924 North Carolina team had two great players; All-Americans Cartwright Carmichael and Jack Cobb.

UNC won the NCAA national championships five times, in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, and 2009.

1924 Basketball Season

For the second time in two years, Carolina finished her season's schedule without defeat and for the second time in three years the Tar Heels ran a brilliant course through the tournament at Atlanta and emerged as undisputed Champions of the South.

In the tournament of 1924 the University team had won the Southern crown and had written its name deep into the basketball history of the Southland. In 1923 the Tar Heels traveled to Atlanta without a single defeat and were widely heralded as sure winners; but illness and staleness crept in and the team was eliminated in the second round in its only defeat of the year. 1924 saw the team sweep through the South-Atlantic without defeat for the second consecutive time, and at Atlanta in a blaze of glory the Old North State quint defeated four of the strongest institutions in the South and won the championship.

Only two letter-men composed the team that ended the season in triumph against Alabama. Carmichael and McDonald, two of the greatest players ever developed in the South, played their last season for Carolina and were the framework of the team. Capt. Green was injured while on the trip through Virginia and was unable to share in the glory at Atlanta. Carl Mahler, letter-man from the 1924 team, failed to return to school, and Sam McDonald, another regular, found his work too heavy to permit of his playing.
Coach Shepherd found plenty of material with which to work. Besides Green, McDonald and Carmichael, there were eligible Dodderer, Cobb, Devin, Johnson, Koonce, Poole and Lineberger.

The team gave great promise early in the season by easily defeating several independent club teams in practice games and the smaller Colleges in the State. But when Carolina invaded Virginia and returned undefeated, it was generally predicted that Southern honors would again be won by Carolina.

Leaving Chapel Hill, after defeating Washington and Lee for the second time, the Tar Heels went southward to the Georgia capital and drew the University of Kentucky as their first opponent. With apparent ease the score was doubled on the Kentuckians and Vanderbilt was pitted against Carolina. The Tennessee team was completely outclassed, and defeated, 37 to 20. With the field narrowed down to four contestants, Carolina drew the Mississippi Aggies (1923 Champions) as their opponents for the semi-finals and defeated them by 10 points.

In the final championship game with the University of Alabama, the brilliance of the Tar Heels was considerably dulled by the tenacious guarding of the Alabama team. However, in a final spurt that took her away from their closely-trailing opponents, the Carolinians increased their lead and won the cup.

Front Row (left to right): Jack Cobb, Bill Dodderer, Captain Winton Greene, Cartwright Carmichael, Sam 'Monk' McDonald
Back Row: Mayer Bretney Smith, Jimmy Poole, Donald Koonce, Billy Devin, Henry Lineburger

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                    March 14th 2009, Florida State 73 - UNC 70

             This is a January 1976 John Branch Cartoon from The Daily Tarheel

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by Charly Mann

In December of 1956 when UNC started their run for the National Championship, and the most incredible season in college basketball history, I was nearing my seventh birthday. The population of Chapel Hill was less than 8,000, and it seemed that every face in town was a familiar one. Woollen Gym, where the Tarheels played their games, held about 5,000 people, and I recall that almost anyone in town who wanted tickets to the games got them. Woollen Gym was twenty years old in 1957, and most of the bleachers were on rollers and could be collapsed and pushed away from the court when there wasn't a game. What made the season that year memorable to me at first, was that the first and last home games of the season were going to be against South Carolina teams. My Dad, then a math professor at UNC, was from South Carolina, and we visited relatives there often, so this was special to me. The first home game was against Furman in early December, and the last was against South Carolina – then in the ACC – in late February. During games I would spend much of time with a group of my friends walking up and down the bleacher stairs, and sitting from time to time in various empty seats. I cannot recall spending much time watching the games. UNC played eight home games that season, and won them all.

Coach Frank McGuire, with players Lennie Rosenbluth, Pete Brennan, Tommy Kearns, Joe Quigg, and Bob Cunningham

Everyone in town started paying a little more attention to the team after they won the ACC tournament and went on to the NCAA tournament. Most of those games I recall hearing on the radio. The national championship games in Kansas City are somewhat indelible for several reasons. First I found out that if UNC made it to the championship game they would probably be playing against a giant. I was curious to see a picture of this man, and saw in a newspaper he was black. This really surprised me. UNC had no black players, and did not have one until ten years later with Charlie Scott in 1966. In fact I do not recall any black students, or any blacks every attending any basketball games that year at Woollen Gym. My nearby elementary school, Glenwood, certainly had no black students. The following day I remember how excited everyone got when UNC won the NCAA semi-finalgame against Michigan State in triple overtime.

The next day all everyone in Chapel Hill was talking about was how there was little chance UNC could pull off another miracle. This was because the game was being played in Kansas, the home state of The University of Kansas that we would be facing that night. And also, of course , the giant, Wilt Chamberlain, who people were calling the best basketball player of all time was on the team we would be facing. This was going to be a battle of David and Goliath, and this Goliath was 5 inches taller than anyone on the UNC team. In fact he was eight inches taller than UNC’s best player Lennie Rothenbulth.

I remember my Dad remarking at the beginning of the game how the UNC coach, Frank McGuire, had chosen UNC’s shortest player, 5 foot 11 inch Tommy Kearns to match up with Chamberlain for the tip off to start the game. Of course Kansas won the toss, but just as amazingly, UNC jumped to a big lead which they maintained till halftime. The TV announcer explained that UNC had three of its players defending Chamberlain most of the game, which was working well for the Tarheels. The second half was awful for me, Kansas got the lead, and with less than two minutes left UNC’s star player, and leading scorer, Rosenbulth fouled out of the game. Then providence, or something that just never happens, began to happen. Kansas missed all of their foul shots in the final minutes, while UNC scored a basket and a free throw to tie the game up, so it was on to overtime. Next there were two overtimes in which each team played very slow and cautiously. In the first each team only got one basket, and in the second neither team scored. The real game was played in the final overtime, and there was lots of action, with both team scoring several baskets and free throws, and with about thirty seconds left, Kansas had a single point lead. In the last seconds I vividly remember a UNC player being fouled and making both free throws to give UNC the lead. Kansas had one final chance to score, and I held my breath, but somehow a UNC player got the ball that was being thrown to Chamberlain and UNC had done it, the national championship, with two triple overtimes, two nights in a row, and an undefeated 32-0 season.

Up until that time Chapel Hill was hardly on the national map, and I’m not sure if it was after the game, but from then on Chapel Hill had something to be really proud of and to remember. 
 

This is an authentic autographed photograph of the 1957 Championship team submitted by Francie Ellis. It was signed for her father, Fred Ellis.

These license plates were popular in Chapel Hill for at least a decade. I remember one displayed at the entry of Max Snipes’s Barber Shop on Franklin Street for years.

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by Charly Mann

George Glamack was the star of the UNC 1940-1941 team. This is first UNC team to make the NCAA tournament.

 
George Glamack and his famous hook shot

Glamack had limited eyesight due to a tragic football injury in high-school, yet he had perhaps the best hook-shot in basketball history. He was named the National Basketball Player of the Year in both 1940 and 1941.

The 1941 NCAA tournament had only eight teams. UNC played in the East Quarterfinal game in Madison, Wisconsin on March 21, 1941 against Pittsburgh. The UNC coach was Bill Lange.

UNC set a milestone in its first NCAA game that has stood the test of time; the lowest points ever scored in a NCAA tournament game: 20.

The final score was:

Pittsburgh 26 UNC 20

George Glamack on right

At the end of 1941, when the United States declared war on Japan and Germany, Glamack wanted to join the Navy. When he was asked by a Navy medical examiner to read an eye chart, Glamack responed to him, "I can't". The examiner then told him to get closer to the chart, and try to read it. Glamack's eyesight was so bad that he could not see the chart and walked into the wall. Glamrack pleaded with the examiner to accept him into the Navy, and they did.

George Glamack died in 1987.

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Sportsfolio: Coach Smith, the team has been ranked number one for most of the season. How does this ranking affect the team?

Dean Smith: How did you get in here and who are you?

Sportsfolio: My name is Steve Holstrom and I'm with Sportsfolio - remember we arranged this interview weeks ago?

Dean Smith: No, but what's on your mind. I only have a few minutes.

Sportsfolio: Does the pressure of being number one most of the season affect the team's performance?

Dean Smith: Yes.

Sportsfolio: Sport Magazine has said that Carolina has quickness, power inside, and a killer instinct. Others have said that the team is tentative. How do you coach a killer instinct?

Dean Smith: Do you have about eight dollars in your pocket?

Sportsfolio: Yes, but -

Dean Smith: Then buy my book.

Sportsfolio: Why haven't you played the blue team (second string) this year?

Dean Smith: Have you seen the guys on my bench? There's no way I'd let five of those guys on the floor at the same time. They can't shoot, dribble, pass, or play defense. Most of them can't even read the book I wrote.

Sportsfolio: Let's talk about the starters for a moment. James Worthy for instance, will he turn pro this year?

Dean Smith: I certainly hope so. Despite having a few good games for us he's really mediocre as a player, and has caused a great deal of resentment among the players who would like to grow beards. He's a troublemaker for sure.

Sportsfolio: How do you feel about the ease of beating long-time rivals Duke and State this year?

Dean Smith: We should always beat them. We have a better school, a better group of athletes, and I'm probably the best coach in the nation. Most of the referees are personal friends of mine, and most graduated from Carolina.

Sportsfolio: How well has Warren Martin progressed this year?

Dean Smith: Jimmy Black is probably the most underrated player in the country. He should have been named to the AII-ACC team this year and should be drafted in the first or second round.

Sportsfolio: Has the team played as well as you'd hoped they would this year?

Dean Smith: No. I was really disappointed losing twice this year. Especially losing to Wake Forest. Tacy is one of the league's worst coaches and· losing to him is personally distasteful.

Sportsfolio: Were you disappointed that Virginia lost so early in the NCAAs?

Dean Smith: I'm never disappointed when Virginia loses. Some people think that Terry Holland and I don't like each other. That's not true - we can't stand each other. Holland is very jealous of me and rightly so.

Sportsfolio: How well has Buzz Peterson progressed this year?

Dean Smith: Jimmy Black is probably the most underrated player in the country. He should have been named to the AII-ACC this year and should be drafted in the first or second round.

Sportsfolio: There have been a lot of walking calls made on Michael Jordan this year. Is he walking or just too quick for the officials?

Dean Smith: Too quick. We plan on fitting Michael with shoes that are two sizes too big so that he can move inside his shoes without traveling. We figure the officials will never notice.

Sportsfolio: AI McGuire sometimes knocks you in his comments as a sportscaster. I thought you guys were friends.

Dean Smith: You thought wrong.

Sportsfolio: Will Jimmy Braddock see more action next year as a senior and as a possible replacement for Black?

Dean Smith: Probably not. Besides, who can replace Jimmy Black? Jimmy Black is probably the most underrated player in the country. He should have been named to the AII-ACC this year and ...

Sportsfolio: And should be drafted in the first or second round. Right. How about Dean Smith going to the pros? Will it ever happen?

Dean Smith: Why leave the southern part of heaven for, shall we say, the warmer depths of the pros?

Sportsfolio: Will we see a thirty-second clock in college basketball?

Dean Smith: I'm all for it. I'm tired of having to win twenty games a season by having to come up with innovative new stalling strategies. Carolina can win with any set of rules. After all, we are the best coached team in the nation. Don't you know that we'll be able to adapt to most anything the rules committee can come up with?

Sportsfolio: Coach, you've been quoted as saying that -

Dean Smith: Who did you say you were writing for?

Sportsfolio: Sportsfolio

Dean Smith: You mean a local sports weekly got an interview with the best coach in the country? And without paying me, I suppose. Do you know what Sports illustrated pays for an interview? What do I look like - the coach for James Madison University? You know that you haven't once asked me about the book I wrote? You haven't even taken my picture yet!

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