1996–97 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

American college basketball season

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1996–97 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball

ACC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
Record	28–7 (11–5 ACC)
Head coach	Dean Smith (36th season)
Assistant coaches	Bill Guthridge (30th season) Phil Ford (9th season) Dave Hanners (7th season)
Home arena	Dean Smith Center
Seasons← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 ACC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 8 Duke	12	–	4	.750	24	–	9	.727
No. 9 Wake Forest	11	–	5	.688	24	–	7	.774
No. 4 North Carolina †	11	–	5	.688	28	–	7	.800
No. 14 Clemson	9	–	7	.563	23	–	10	.697
No. 22 Maryland	9	–	7	.563	21	–	11	.656
Virginia	7	–	9	.438	18	–	13	.581
Florida State	6	–	10	.375	20	–	12	.625
NC State	4	–	12	.250	17	–	15	.531
Georgia Tech	3	–	13	.188	9	–	18	.333

† 1997 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1996–97 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Dean Smith in his 36th and final season at the school. The team played its home games in the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Roster

1996–97 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	3	Shammond Williams	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Fork Union Military	Greenville, South Carolina
F	4	Makhtar N'Diaye	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	231 lb (105 kg)	Jr	Oak Hill Academy	Dakar, Senegal
G	5	Ed Cota	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Samuel J. Tilden	Brooklyn, New York
F/C	13	Ademola Okulaja	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	So	John F. Kennedy High School	Berlin, Germany
G/F	15	Vince Carter	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Mainland High School	Daytona Beach, Florida
G	21	Terrence Newby	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Jordan-Matthews	Siler City, North Carolina
G	22	Scott Williams	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	156 lb (71 kg)	So	Lawrence	Lawrence, Kansas
F/C	33	Antawn Jamison	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	223 lb (101 kg)	So	Providence	Charlotte, North Carolina

Head coach

Dean Smith

Assistant coach(es)

Bill Guthridge
Phil Ford
Dave Hanners

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 22, 1996*	No. 7	vs. No. 19 Arizona Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic	L 72–83	0–1	Springfield Civic Center Springfield, MA
Nov 25, 1996*	No. 7	at Richmond	W 86–75	1–1	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Nov 29, 1996*	No. 14	at Pittsburgh	W 82–61	2–1	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 2, 1996*	No. 14	at Bethune-Cookman	W 106–62	3–1	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 6, 1996*	No. 14	vs. USC	W 99–84	4–1	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC
Dec 7, 1996*	No. 14	vs. South Carolina	W 86–75	5–1	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC
Dec 15, 1996*	No. 11	at VMI	W 105–61	6–1	Cameron Hall Lexington, VA
Dec 18, 1996*	No. 12	vs. LSU	W 67–48	7–1	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
Dec 20, 1996*	No. 12	vs. UMass	W 83–69	8–1	Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, NJ
Dec 22, 1996*	No. 12	at Princeton	W 69–60	9–1	Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, NJ
Jan 4, 1997	No. 11	at No. 2 Wake Forest	L 57–81	9–2 (0–1)	Lawrence Joel Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC
Jan 8, 1997	No. 13	No. 19 Maryland	L 75–85	9–3 (0–2)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 11, 1997	No. 13	at Virginia	L 63–75	9–4 (0–3)	University Hall Charlottesville, VA
Jan 15, 1997	No. 22	NC State	W 59–56	10–4 (1–3)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 18, 1997	No. 22	Georgia Tech	W 73–50	11–4 (2–3)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 22, 1997	No. 19	Florida State	L 71–84	11–5 (2–4)	Donald L. Tucker Center Tallahassee, FL
Jan 26, 1997	No. 19	No. 2 Clemson	W 61–48	12–5 (3–4)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 29, 1997	No. 19	at No. 12 Duke	L 73–80	12–6 (3–5)	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
Feb 1, 1997*	No. 19	Middle Tennessee	W 99–49	13–6	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 6, 1997	No. 20	Florida State	W 90–62	14–6 (4–5)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 8, 1997	No. 20	Virginia	W 81–57	15–6 (5–5)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 12, 1997	No. 16	at NC State	W 45–44	16–6 (6–5)	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC
Feb 15, 1997	No. 16	at Georgia Tech	W 72–68	17–6 (7–5)	Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, GA
Feb 19, 1997	No. 12	No. 4 Wake Forest	W 74–60	18–6 (8–5)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 22, 1997	No. 12	at No. 14 Maryland	W 93–81	19–6 (9–5)	Cole Fieldhouse College Park, MD
Feb 26, 1997	No. 8	at No. 12 Clemson	W 76–69	20–6 (10–5)	Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, SC
Mar 2, 1997	No. 8	No. 7 Duke	W 91–85	21–6 (11–5)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
ACC tournament
Mar 7, 1997	(3) No. 5	(6) Virginia Quarterfinals	W 78–68	22–6	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
Mar 8, 1997	(3) No. 5	(2) No. 8 Wake Forest Semifinals	W 86–73	23–6	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
Mar 9, 1997	(3) No. 5	(8) NC State Championship	W 64–54	24–6	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1997	(1 E) No. 4	(16 E) Fairfield First round	W 82–74	25–6	Lawrence Joel Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC
Mar 15, 1997	(1 E) No. 4	(9 E) No. 24 Colorado Second Round	W 73–56	26–6	Lawrence Joel Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC
Mar 21, 1997	(1 E) No. 4	(5 E) California Sweet Sixteen	W 63–57	27–6	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY
Mar 23, 1997	(1 E) No. 4	(6 E) No. 25 Louisville Elite Eight	W 97–74	28–6	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY
Mar 29, 1997*	(1 E) No. 4	vs. (4 SE) No. 15 Arizona Final Four	L 58–66	28–7	RCA Dome Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East region. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Main article: 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

U.N.C. basketball blue book. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2000.
"North Carolina and Louisville Move On". The New York Times. March 22, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
"Mr. Smith Goes To Indianapolis". The Spokesman-Review. March 24, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
"Arizona 66, North Carolina 58". The Washington Post. March 30, 1997. p. D1. Retrieved March 10, 2019.

v t e North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
Venues	Bynum Gymnasium (1910–1923) Tin Can (1924–1938) Woollen Gymnasium (1938–1965) Carmichael Auditorium (1965–1986) Dean Smith Center (1986–present)
Rivalries	Duke (Carlyle Cup) Kentucky NC State Wake Forest
Culture & lore	Rameses The Marching Tar Heels Junior varsity team Inside Carolina Four corners offense Blue blood status Dixie Classic/Big Four Jumpman Invitational Tobacco Road Academic-athletic scandal Gambling scandal
People	Head coaches Honorees Honored players NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics

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