The 1992–93 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

in the 1992-93 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 34–4 overall, won the ACC regular season title with a 14–2 record and won the 1993 national championship. They were coached by

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel H ...

, who won his second national championship in his thirty-second season as head coach of the Tar Heels. They 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.

Season summary

The 1992-93 team was led by George Lynch,

Eric Montross Eric Scott “Big Grits” Montross (born September 23, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight seasons with the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets ...

, Brian Reese, Donald Williams, and

Derrick Phelps Derrick Michael Phelps (born July 31, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. At 6'4" and 181 lbs., he played as a point guard. He was most recently the associate head coach at Washington State. High school Phelps attended Chri ...

. The Tar Heels started out with an 8–0 record and were ranked #5 in the country when they met #6

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

in the semi-finals of the Rainbow Classic. The Wolverines, led by the Fab Five in their sophomore season, won 79–78 to on a last-second shot. North Carolina bounced back with nine straight wins before losing back-to-back road games against unranked Wake Forest and #5

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 ...

. After seven more straight wins, the Tar Heels were ranked #1 heading into the last week of the regular season (their first #1 ranking since the start of the 1987–88 season). North Carolina beat #14 Wake Forest and #6 Duke to close out the regular season and clinch the top seed in the ACC tournament. North Carolina reached the tournament final, but they lost 77–75 to Georgia Tech without Derrick Phelps who was injured. Nonetheless, North Carolina was awarded the top seed in the East Regional of the NCAA tournament, defeating #16-seed East Carolina (85–65), #8-seed

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

(112-67), #4-seed

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

(80–74), and #2-seed

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

(75–68) to reach the final four in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. In the national semi-finals, Smith's Tar Heels defeated his alma mater

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 ...

(coached by future North Carolina coach Roy Williams) 78–68, setting up a rematch with #3-ranked

in the finals. The national title game was a see-saw battle throughout, but is remembered best for

Chris Webber Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III (born March 1, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Drafted number one overall by the Orlando Magic, though arguably best known and remembered as the star forward for the Sacramento Ki ...

's time out call with seconds left when Michigan didn't have any. Michigan was assessed a technical foul and North Carolina ended up winning 77–71, giving Smith his second national championship.

Personnel

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9, ACC tournament , - !colspan=9, NCAA tournament

Awards and honors

* Dean Smith,

Naismith College Coach of the Year Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987. The award was originally given to the two winning coaches of the NCAA Divis ...

* Donald Williams, NCAA Men's MOP Award

Team players drafted into the NBA

Kevin Salvadori and

also went on to play in the NBA, but were undrafted.

References

Matt Wenstrom-Undrafted in the 1993 NBA Draft, Wentrom nonetheless made the Boston Celtics roster as a free agent. He appeared in 11 games during the 1993–94 season, averaging 1.6 points and 1.1 rebounds per game in his only NBA season. {{DEFAULTSORT:1992-93 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

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 seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

Tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bi ...