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

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.

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 (8th 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
NC State	4	–	12		.250			17	–	15		.531
Georgia Tech	3	–	13		.188			9	–	18		.333
† 1997 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

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 0 in (1.83 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

^[1]

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^[2]	27–6	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
Mar 23, 1997	(1 E) No. 4	(6 E) No. 25 Louisville Elite Eight	W 97–74^[3]	28–6	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
Mar 29, 1997*	(1 E) No. 4	vs. (4 SE) No. 15 Arizona Final Four	L 58–66^[4]	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

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