North Carolina Tar Heels Men's Basketball

The North Carolina Tar Heels are one of the most storied teams in the history of Men's Basketball at the collegiate level. The team has found success in several decades in a league that features so many teams that it is very difficult to stay near the top of the game.
The team found success as early as the 1920's. The 1920's included 2 conference championships. They even managed to become National Champions in 1924. This was before the era of the NCAA tournament though and is often forgotten. The team continued to win several conference championships each decade through the 1940's. The 1950's brought the first bit of fame to the Tar Heels.
In the 1950s the team joined the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team began to be led by Frank McGuire and they found their first success on the big stage in 1957. In 1957 the team made it all the way to the Finals of the NCAA Tournament. In the finals they squared off against Wilt Chamberlain and the Kansas City Jayhawks. The game instantly became a classic and was one for the ages. The game went to triple overtime before being decided. In the end the Tar Heels found themselves as National Champions for the first time in the history after the beginning of the NCAA Tournament.
Frank McGuire started things off for the Tar Heels, but Dean Smith is definitely the figurehead of the University. Dean Smith began coaching the team in 1961 and brought huge success within the decade. This success includes three consecutive Final Four appearances in the 1960s from 1967-1969. This is impressive, but they were not stopped at that point in 1968. They managed to advance to the championship game in 1968 before falling.
The 1970s brought two more final four experiences, including another year as runner-up to the champions, but Dean Smith still had not led them to a championship. The 1980's served as a launching board to the next level.
In the 1980s the Tar Heels made the Elite 8 six times in the 1980s and made it to the Final Four twice. 1981 brought another runner-up finish for the Tar Heels as they lost again in the Championship game. In 1982 the Tar Heels managed to crack the seal.
In 1982 the Tar Heels went on to win the National Championship, the first for Dean Smith. This was the 2nd NCAA Tournament championship for the University. After 1982 the University started another championship drought that lasted more than a decade.
The 1990s were another successful decade for the Tar Heels. They advanced to the final four 5 times in the 1990s. In 1993 the team managed to win the National Championship again, the 2nd and last championship for Dean Smith as coach of the Tar Heels. Dean Smith retired as the coach with the most wins in the history of NCAA Division I Men's basketball.After Dean Smith the team struggled to find consistency with a coach. The university experimented with two coaches, Bill Guthridge and Matt Doherty, but neither coach managed to stick around for more than a couple of years.