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UNC's 1982 NCAA Basketball Championship
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
Comments:
Doc Turk
3:30 PM Sun 2/13/2011
Tar Heel is TWO words!
Larry Miller
7:53 PM Tue 12/1/2009
Thank Charly for the article.
Larry Howell
4:41 PM Mon 10/26/2009
There is no question about how great many of the UNC teams are, especially the 5 or 6 national champions depending on how you determine this; but one of my favorites are the teams from 1967-1969 featuring Larry Miller, Rusty Clark, Eddie Fogler, Charlie Scott, Bill Bunting, Dick Grubar, and Ed Delaney. They lost to Dayton in the NCAA semifinals 76-62 because they overlooked them concentrating on the next game with UCLA, in my amateur and biased opinion. Next year they lost to UCLA in the final game 78-55 and were #2 at the final ranking. Next year they lost to Purdue in the semifinals and then to Drake and played poorly after two close and emotionally draining games in the regionals to Duquesne and Davidson; they also were without Dick Grubar in these last two games for the championship. I don't have much doubt about the superiority of the Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden, and Lou Alcindor. I also don't have much doubt that with UCLA out of the picture that this was national championship team all three years. I especially loved Larry Miller; he looked like a halfback going into the lane and when he did not get a charging call, he cleared the deck. I also loved Grubar; he was the quarterback that sparked that team. I also envied his good looks; he was quite the ladies man.
Louise Cherry
4:17 PM Fri 8/14/2009
I'm enjoying reading your blog. It makes me feel back home again.
Huge Wall
9:48 AM Thu 8/13/2009
That was definitely the Carolina Dream. I imagine that if they had been an NBA team a few years later they would have won that championship too.
Janis East
1:41 PM Wed 8/12/2009
I think this was the best championship game ever played, and one of the few that was decided by only one point. I think UNC had the better team, but Georgetown played a better game.
Doug Vine
9:14 AM Wed 8/12/2009
I was born in 1979 so do not remember this team, but as a huge Michael Jordan fan have always wondered why the 1982 UNC team did not have more blow-out wins. I think your explanation is an accurate assessment of the reason.
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Chapel Hill is located on a hill whose only distinguishing feature in the 18th century was a small chapel on top called New Hope Chapel. This church was built in 1752 and is currently the location of The Carolina Inn. The town was founded in 1819, and chartered in 1851.
What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls. or the crisp October nights. No, our love for this place is based upon the fact that it is as it was meant to be, The University of the People.
-- Charles Kuralt
Dark Side of the Hill -- Pink Floyd, the creators of the most popular album in history, Dark Side of the Moon, took the second half of their name from Floyd Council, a Chapel Hill native, and great blues singer and guitarist. He once belonged to a group called "The Chapel Hillbillies".
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Oklahoma Birds and Butterflies
http://oklahomabirdsandbutterflies.com
Oklahoma Birds and Butterflies
http://oklahomabirdsandbutterflies.com
There would probably be no Chapel Hill if the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees in 1793 had not chosen land across from New Hope Chapel for the location of the university. By 1800 there were about 100 people living in thirty houses surrounding the campus.
The University North Carolina's first student was Hinton James, who enrolled in February, 1795. There is now a dormitory on the campus named in his honor.
The University of North Carolina was closed from 1870 to 1875 because of lack of state funding.
William Ackland left his art collection and $1.25 million to Duke University in 1940 on the condition that he would be buried in the art museum that the University was to build with his bequest. Duke rejected this condition even though members of the Duke Family are buried in Duke Chapel. What followed was a long and acrimonious legal battle between Ackland relatives who now wanted the inheritance, Rollins College, and the University of North Carolina, each attempting to receive the funds. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and in 1949 UNC was awarded the money for the museum. Ackland is buried near the museum's entrance. When the museum first opened, in the early sixties, there were rumors that his remains were leaking out of the mausoleum.
The official name of the Arboretum on the University of North Carolina campus is the Coker Arboretum. It is named after Dr. William Cocker, the University's first botany professor. It occupies a little more than five acres. It was founded in 1903.
Chapel Hill's main street has always been called Franklin Street. It was named after Benjamin Franklin in the early 1790s.
Chapel Hill High School and Chapel Hill Junior High were on Franklin Street in the same location as University Square until the mid 1960s.
The Colonial Drug Store at 450 West Franklin Street was owned and operated by John Carswell. It was famous for a fresh-squeezed carbonated orange beverage called a "Big O". In the early 1970s, I managed the Record and Tape Center next door, and must have had over 100 of those drinks. The Colonial Drug Store closed in 1996.
Sutton's Drugstore, which opened in 1923, has one of the last soda fountains in the South. It is one of the few businesses remaining on Franklin Street that was in operation when I was growing up in the 1950s.
Future President Gerald Ford lived in Chapel Hill twice. First when he was 24, in 1938, he took a law couse in summer school at UNC. He lived in the Carr Building, which was a law school dormitory. At the same time, Richard Nixon, the man he served under as Vice President, was attending law school at Duke. In 1942, Ford returned to Chapel Hill to attend the U.S. Navy's Pre-Flight School training program. He lived in a rental house on Hidden Hills Drive.
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