| 2008–09North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 1 |
| AP | No. 2 |
| Record | 34–4 (13–3 ACC) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| Home arena | Dean Smith Center |
Seasons | |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2North Carolina | 13 | – | 3 | .813 | 34 | – | 4 | .895 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 6Duke† | 11 | – | 5 | .688 | 30 | – | 7 | .811 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12Wake Forest | 11 | – | 5 | .688 | 24 | – | 7 | .774 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 16Florida State | 10 | – | 6 | .625 | 25 | – | 10 | .714 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 24Clemson | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 23 | – | 9 | .719 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boston College | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 22 | – | 12 | .647 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 21 | – | 14 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia Tech | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 19 | – | 15 | .559 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miami (FL) | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 19 | – | 13 | .594 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NC State | 6 | – | 10 | .375 | 16 | – | 14 | .533 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia | 4 | – | 12 | .250 | 10 | – | 18 | .357 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Tech | 2 | – | 14 | .125 | 12 | – | 19 | .387 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| †2009 ACC tournament winner Rankings fromAP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The2008–09 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The head coach wasRoy Williams. The team played its home games in theDean Smith Center inChapel Hill, North Carolina, and was a member of theAtlantic Coast Conference. The team won the2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the fifth NCAA national title in school history. Considered one of the greatest teams in college basketball history, the Tar Heels won their six NCAA tournament games by double digits, and by an average of 19.8 points per game. They were ranked as the 30th best team in college basketball history by Bleacher Report in 2012.[1]
The Tar Heels were a trendy pick to win the National Championship that year, primarily becauseWayne Ellington,Danny Green andTy Lawson decided to withdraw from the2008 NBA draft, and consensus national Player of the YearTyler Hansbrough never declared for that draft.[2] In addition, the players had been embarrassed in the previous season'sFinal Four by Kansas, and they were motivated to atone for that poor performance. In the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll the Tar Heels were ranked #1. They were the first unanimous preseason #1 ranking in the history of the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.[3] UNC also received the first unanimous preseason #1 ranking in the history of the Associated Press Poll.[4]
| Name | Hometown | School | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Davis PF | Richmond, Virginia | Benedictine HS | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Jul 18, 2007 | |
| Recruit ratings:Scout: | ||||||
| Larry Drew II PG | Encino, California | Woodland Hills Taft | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 23, 2007 | |
| Recruit ratings:Scout: | ||||||
| Justin Watts SG | Durham, North Carolina | Jordan HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | May 20, 2008 | |
| Recruit ratings:Scout: | ||||||
| Tyler Zeller PF | Washington, Indiana | Washington HS | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 250 lb (110 kg) | Jan 4, 2008 | |
| Recruit ratings:Scout: | ||||||
| Overall recruit ranking: Scout: 5 Rivals: 11 ESPN: 7 | ||||||
Sources:
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| 2008–09 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Joe Holladay
Roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Tar Heels rolled through the nonconference schedule, along the way winning theMaui Invitational for the third time. They sputtered out of the gate to start ACC play, dropping their first two conference games toBoston College andWake Forest. However, they recovered to reel off 10 straight conference wins, including a 101–87 thrashing of rivalDuke. Their only relatively close games during this stretch came against the ACC's two Florida teams—most notably againstFlorida State, in which they escaped with a Ty Lawson buzzer-beater.
They lost toMaryland in overtime, but recovered to win their last three games. A win overVirginia Tech gave the Tar Heels at least a share of their 27th regular season title (which are not recognized by the ACC as official championships; the tournament winner is declared champion), and third in a row. They won the title outright with a season-ending win over Duke.
TheACC tournament did not go nearly as well, largely because Ty Lawson was sidelined with an injured big toe. They needed a last-minute score to defeat Virginia Tech, then fell to Florida State in the second round. Still, the Tar Heels were rewarded with the #2 ranking in the final AP Poll, behindLouisville. They also finished third in the final regular-season Coaches Poll, behind Louisville andMemphis.
Despite not making it to the ACC title game, the Tar Heels received the top seed in theNCAA South Region. It was the 13th time the Tar Heels had been selected as a #1 seed—the most since the NCAA began seeding the tournament field in 1979. It is also UNC's 41st NCAA appearance—tied withUCLA for the second-most in history.
The Tar Heels played their first- and second-round games at theGreensboro Coliseum, just an hour west of Chapel Hill. They easily dispatchedRadford andLSU to advance to the regionals at theFedExForum inMemphis. In the regional round, the Heels dismantledGonzaga 93–77. In the regional final, they defeatedOklahoma 72–60 to advance to the Final Four for the 18th time in school history—tied with UCLA for the most ever. The wins in the regional phase were also the school's 100th and 101st wins in the NCAA Tournament, passingKentucky for most all-time, although Kentucky has reclaimed the top spot as of 2019.
The Tar Heels were the highest seed to reach the Final Four atFord Field inDetroit; they were the overall #3 seed in the tournament behind Louisville andPittsburgh. In the national semifinal, the Tar Heels poundedVillanova 83–69 to advance to the national championship game for the ninth time in school history. They played againstMichigan State, whom the Tar Heels defeated 98–63 during the December 2008ACC-Big Ten Challenge. They were no less dominant in the title game, winning 89–72 for the school's fifth NCAA national title—tied for the third-most all-time. The win capped off one of the most dominant runs in the tournament's history. The Tar Heels won every game by at least 12 points—a feat all the more remarkable since they upended four teams ranked in the top 15 of the final AP Poll in the process (#10 Gonzaga, #7 Oklahoma, #11 Villanova and #8 Michigan State). They also led for all but 10 minutes of a possible 240 minutes of game time. It also allowed Tyler Hansbrough and his fellow seniors to end their careers as the winningest class in school history.
Wayne Ellington was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, the fourth Tar Heel to earn the award.
| Date time, TV | Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exhibition games | |||||||||||
| November 8* 4:00 p.m. | No. 1 | UNC Pembroke Exhibition | W 102–62 | 0–0 | Dean Smith Center (18,793) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| Regular season | |||||||||||
| November 15* 4:00 p.m., FSN | No. 1 | Penn | W 86–71 | 1–0 | Dean Smith Center (19,623) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| November 18* 9:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 1 | Kentucky | W 77–58 | 2–0 | Dean Smith Center (21,538) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| November 21* 10:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 1 | at UC Santa Barbara | W 84–67 | 3–0 | Campus Events Center (6,000) Santa Barbara, CA | ||||||
| November 24* 9:30 p.m., ESPNU | No. 1 | at Chaminade Maui Invitational | W 115–70 | 4–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI | ||||||
| November 25* 9:30 p.m., ESPN | No. 1 | vs. Oregon Maui Invitational | W 98–69 | 5–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI | ||||||
| November 26* 10:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 1 | vs. No. 8 Notre Dame Maui Invitational | W 102–87 | 6–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI | ||||||
| November 30* 6:30 p.m., FSN | No. 1 | UNC Asheville | W 116–48 | 7–0 | Dean Smith Center (18,054) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| December 3* 9:15 p.m., ESPN | No. 1 | vs. No. 13 Michigan State ACC–Big Ten Challenge/Basketbowl II | W 98–63 | 8–0 | Ford Field (25,267) Detroit, MI | ||||||
| December 13* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 1 | Oral Roberts | W 100–84 | 9–0 | Dean Smith Center (21,269) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| December 18* 7:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 1 | Evansville | W 91–73 | 10–0 | Dean Smith Center (21,291) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| December 20* 2:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 1 | vs. Valparaiso | W 85–63 | 11–0 | United Center (10,645) Chicago, IL | ||||||
| December 28* 7:45 p.m., FSN | No. 1 | Rutgers | W 97–75 | 12–0 | Dean Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| December 31* 10:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 1 | at Nevada | W 84–61 | 13–0 | Lawlor Events Center (10,526) Reno, NV | ||||||
| January 4 5:30 p.m., FSN | No. 1 | Boston College | L 78–85 | 13–1 (0–1) | Dean Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| January 7* 9:00 p.m., FSN-South | No. 3 | College of Charleston | W 108–70 | 14–1 (0–1) | Dean Smith Center (20,543) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| January 11 8:00 p.m., FSN | No. 3 | at No. 4 Wake Forest | L 89–92 | 14–2 (0–2) | Lawrence Joel Coliseum (14,714) Winston-Salem, NC | ||||||
| January 15 9:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 5 | at Virginia | W 83–61 | 15–2 (1–2) | John Paul Jones Arena (13,811) Charlottesville, VA | ||||||
| January 17 9:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 5 | Miami (FL) ESPN College GameDay | W 82–65 | 16–2 (2–2) | Dean Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| January 21 9:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 5 | No. 10 Clemson | W 94–70 | 17–2 (3–2) | Dean Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| January 28 9:00 p.m., Raycom | No. 5 | at Florida State | W 80–77 | 18–2 (4–2) | Donald L. Tucker Center (11,333) Tallahassee, FL | ||||||
| January 31 3:30 p.m., ABC | No. 5 | at NC State Carolina-NC State rivalry | W 93–76 | 19–2 (5–2) | RBC Center (19,700) Raleigh, NC | ||||||
| February 3 8:00 p.m., Raycom/ESPN | No. 3 | Maryland | W 108–91 | 20–2 (6–2) | Dean Smith Center (20,863) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| February 7 4:00 p.m., Raycom | No. 3 | Virginia | W 76–61 | 21–2 (7–2) | Dean Smith Center (20,879) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| February 11 9:00 p.m., Raycom/ESPN | No. 3 | at No. 6 Duke Carolina-Duke rivalry | W 101–87 | 22–2 (8–2) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC | ||||||
| February 15 7:45 p.m., FSN | No. 3 | at Miami (FL) | W 69–65 | 23–2 (9–2) | BankUnited Center (7,200) Coral Gables, FL | ||||||
| February 18 8:00 p.m., Raycom | No. 3 | NC State Carolina-NC State rivalry | W 89–80 | 24–2 (10–2) | Dean Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| February 21 3:30 p.m., ABC | No. 3 | at Maryland | L 85–88 OT | 24–3 (10–3) | Comcast Center (17,950) College Park, MD | ||||||
| February 28 12:00 p.m., CBS | No. 4 | Georgia Tech | W 104–74 | 25–3 (11–3) | Dean Smith Center (20,959) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| March 4 7:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 2 | at Virginia Tech | W 86–78 | 26–3 (12–3) | Cassell Coliseum (9,847) Blacksburg, VA | ||||||
| March 8 4:00 p.m., CBS | No. 2 | No. 7 Duke Senior Day/Carolina-Duke rivalry | W 79–71 | 27–3 (13–3) | Dean Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC | ||||||
| ACC Tournament | |||||||||||
| March 13 12:00 p.m., Raycom/ESPN2 | No. 1 | vs. Virginia Tech ACC men's basketball tournament | W 79–76 | 28–3 | Georgia Dome (26,352) Atlanta, GA | ||||||
| March 14 1:30 p.m., Raycom/ESPN2 | No. 1 | vs. No. 22 Florida State ACC men's basketball tournament | L 70–73 | 28–4 | Georgia Dome (26,352) Atlanta, GA | ||||||
| NCAA tournament | |||||||||||
| March 19* 2:50 p.m., CBS | No. 2 (1-S) | vs. No. (16-S) Radford First Round | W 101–58 | 29–4 | Greensboro Coliseum (20,226) Greensboro, NC | ||||||
| March 21* 5:45 p.m., CBS | No. 2 (1-S) | vs. No. 21 (8-S) LSU Second Round | W 84–70 | 30–4 | Greensboro Coliseum (22,479) Greensboro, NC | ||||||
| March 27* 9:57 p.m., CBS | No. 2 (1-S) | vs. No. 10 (4-S) Gonzaga Sweet Sixteen | W 98–77 | 31–4 | FedExForum (17,103) Memphis, TN | ||||||
| March 29* 5:05 p.m., CBS | No. 2 (1-S) | vs. No. 7 (2-S) Oklahoma Elite Eight | W 72–60 | 32–4 | FedExForum (17,025) Memphis, TN | ||||||
| April 4* 8:47 p.m., CBS | No. 2 (1-S) | vs. No. 11 (3-E) Villanova Final Four | W 83–69 | 33–4 | Ford Field (72,456) Detroit, MI | ||||||
| April 6* 9:21 p.m., CBS | No. 2 (1-S) | vs. No. 8 (2-M) Michigan State National Championship Game | W 89–72 | 34–4 | Ford Field (72,922) Detroit, MI | ||||||
*Non-conference game.#Rankings fromAP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are inEastern Time[5] Rank indicates seed in the NCAA tournament.E-East Region,W-West Region,S-South Region,M-Midwest Region. | |||||||||||
| Week | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 1(72) | 1(72) | 1(72) | 1(72) | 1(72) | 1(72) | 1(71) | 1(72) | 3(2) | 5 | 5 | 5(11) | 3(3) | 3(2) | 3(2) | 4 | 2(3) | 1(35) | 2(11) | Not released |
| Coaches | 1(31) | 1(30) | 1(31) | 1(31) | 1(31) | 1(31) | 1(31) | 1(31) | 3(1) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1(1) | 3(6) | 1(31) |
| Year | Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 1 | 13 | Tyler Hansbrough | Indiana Pacers |
| 2009 | 1 | 18 | Ty Lawson | Denver Nuggets |
| 2009 | 1 | 28 | Wayne Ellington | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 2009 | 2 | 46 | Danny Green | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 2010 | 1 | 13 | Ed Davis | Toronto Raptors |
| 2012 | 1 | 17 | Tyler Zeller | Dallas Mavericks |