The 2021–22 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

during the

2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2021 and concluded on March 13, 2022. The 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 15 and concluded on April 4 with the c ...

. The team was coached by

Hubert Davis Hubert Ira Davis Jr. (born May 17, 1970) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's team. Before his coaching career, Davis played for North Carolina from 19 ...

, in his first season as UNC's head coach after the retirement of longtime coach Roy Williams. The Tar Heels played their home games at the

Dean Smith Center The Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center (commonly known as the Dean Smith Center, Smith Center, or the Dean Dome) is a multi-purpose arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, used primarily as the home for the University of North Carolina at Ch ...

in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 29–10 overall and 15–5 in ACC play to finish in a tie for second place. As the third seed in the ACC Tournament, they defeated sixth seed

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in the Quarterfinals before losing to seventh seed and eventual champions

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

in the Semifinals. They earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and were the eighth seed in the East Region. They made it all the way to the National Championship game where they lost to

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

to end their run.

Previous season

The Tar Heels finished the 2020–21 season 18–11, 10–6 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. On February 27, 2021, head coach Roy Williams won his 900th career game in a win over

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

, becoming the 5th and fastest Division 1 men's head coach to reach the milestone. On March 6, 2021, UNC completed a season sweep over rival

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

in a 91–73 win. Following the win, Roy Williams kissed the Smith Center court, causing speculation of possible retirement. Williams later said it was because of the team's 10–1 home record. As the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament, they defeated Notre Dame and

, before losing to Florida State in the semifinals. The Virginia Tech win would end up as Williams' 903rd and last win as a coach. North Carolina received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed and would lose in the first round to 9th-seeded

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in what would be Roy Williams' last game. Following the season, Roy Williams announced he would retire after 18 years as head coach of North Carolina.

Offseason

On April 1, 2021, Roy Williams announced his retirement. Williams stated that he didn't feel like he was the "right man for the job anymore".

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

Seth Greenberg Seth Vincent Greenberg (born April 18, 1956) is an American college basketball broadcaster who works as an analyst for ESPN. Prior to taking the position at ESPN he was a coach for 34 years, the last 22 as a head coach. Greenberg has been the he ...

suspected the changing culture of college basketball and "constantly re-recruiting your players, as opposed to mentoring them" played a part in Williams' decision. Following the announcement, athletic director

Bubba Cunningham Lawrence R. "Bubba" Cunningham (born May 12, 1962) is an American college athletics administrator. He was named athletic director for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2011. He was previously athletic director for Ball State Unive ...

and chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz started the process of searching for the next head coach.

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...

' Matt Norlander said "The best job in college basketball just opened". On April 5, 2021, UNC hired former player and assistant coach Hubert Davis as the next head coach. The next day, Davis was formally introduced at an introductory press conference.

Roster changes

Following UNC's loss to Wisconsin in the 2021 NCAA Tournament,

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

's Quierra Luck reported, "Carolina will have some transfers; a considerably high number for UNC" and Inside Carolina's Sherrell McMillan reported the offseason would be "ominous". Three days later, freshman center Walker Kessler announced he was entering the NCAA's transfer portal. Inside Carolina reported that Kessler's decision was a "basketball decision only". On April 12, 2021, Kessler announced that he would transfer to Auburn for the 2021-22 season. On March 24, 2021, freshman forward/center Day'Ron Sharpe declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA u ...

. On April 6, 2021 sophomore

Armando Bacot Armando Linwood Bacot Jr. (born March 6, 2000) is an American college basketball player for the North Carolina Tar Heels of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). He holds the program records for double-doubles and career rebounds. High school ca ...

also declared for the NBA draft, citing his intentions to "test the waters". On June 21, 2021 Bacot formally withdrew from the NBA draft process, signaling his return to UNC for his junior season in a tweet. Redshirt junior Sterling Manley, walk-on senior Walker Miller, and senior forward Garrison Brooks all announced intentions to graduate and transfer. Brooks transferred to

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

on April 15. On June 19, Miller announced he would be pursuing a graduate transfer at

Monmouth University Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its charter. There are about 4,400 full ...

, and would be coached there by another former Tar Heel player in

King Rice King David Rice (born December 14, 1968) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is the head men's basketball coach at Monmouth University. Rice replaced Dave Calloway as head coach of the Hawks on March 29, 2011. Previously, Rice w ...

. Manley eventually pulled his name from the transfer portal and decided to turn professional. After graduation, guard Andrew Platek eventually put his name into the transfer portal, and enrolled at Siena College in his home state of New York. Coach Davis was active in the transfer portal to mitigate these losses. On April 10, 2021,

transfer Justin McKoy chose the Tar Heels. He was followed on April 16 by Oklahoma forward Brady Manek. On July 8, 2021, the Tar Heels picked up another transfer when former Marquette forward

Dawson Garcia Dawson Lee Garcia (born September 20, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the Minnesota Golden Gophers of the Big Ten Conference. He previously played for the Marquette Golden Eagles and the North Carolina Tar Heels. High school c ...

, a

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

All-Freshman team selection for the 2020–2021 season, committed to the Tar Heels. His addition was made official on July 9, when the school issued a press release indicating his signing and arrival in Chapel Hill.

Departures

Incoming transfers

2021 Recruiting class

Roster

Shaver, a member of North Carolina's 2022 recruiting class, enrolled a semester early due to the Tar Heels having an extra scholarship available. He will redshirt for the remainder of the 2021–22 season.

Schedule and results

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Rankings

*Coaches did not release a week 1 poll.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball seasons

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball The North Carolina Tar Heels Men's basketball program is the college basketball team of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels have won six National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships (1957, 1982, 1993 ...

NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four seasons