No. 26: 1983
Our series counting down the Top 30 North Carolina basketball teams of all time continues.
Our mission isn't to make any declarative statements, but rather have some fun, give our readers something to discuss, walk down memory lane some and provide a needed escape.
Your thoughts and picks are welcome in our message board thread for this series.
No. 26: 1983
Record: 28-8 (12-2)
NCAA Tournament: NCAA Elite 8
ACC Tournament: Lost semifinals
Ranking: 8
Coach: Dean Smith
All-Americans: Michael Jordan; Sam Perkins.
All-ACC: Michael Jordan (1st), Sam Perkins (1).
Honors: Michael Jordan: National Player of the Year.
What's To Know: The year after winning a national title and the season before what was almost the best team in Carolina history stands the 1983 Tar Heels. The '83 Heels were comprised of three integral parts of the '82 title and a few more key players that made 1984 nearly special.
Michael Jordan was already a star, averaging 20 points per game, proving wrong the cynics who still claim Dean Smith was the only person who could hold Jordan to less than 20 points a game. Sam Perkins was a first-team All-America for the second consecutive season and Matt Doherty was a two-year starter and one of the great glue players the program has had.
Yet, even though the Heels reached the Elite 8 before losing to Georgia, they were still a slightly inconsistent team caroming from ’82 to ’84. Learning how to win without James Worthy and Jimmy Black while forging into a juggernaut with the new parts was what the 1983 season was all about.
Carolina dropped its first two games to St. John's and Missouri and edged Tulane at home in triple overtime in its third game. A loss to Tulsa two weeks later followed by an 18-game winning streak that took the Tar Heels, who were No. 3 in the nation when the season started, from having fallen completely out of the polls to the No. 1 ranking for two weeks in early February. But three straight losses to Villanova at home, at Maryland 106-94, and at N.C. State sunk the Heels in the rankings. Five straight wins, three times scoring in the 100s, offered the impression Carolina had righted the ship until a loss to the Wolfpack in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
The Heels went 7-5 in their final 12 games and never developed into the team everyone expected. Yet, they were still really good. Like the other clubs in this part of the series, they were Final Four good but probably not national champion good. And for UNC basketball, that gets you a spot in the low 20s.
1983 NBA Draft
Jimmy Braddock, 5th Round, No. 107 overall selection.