UNC Basketball: 12 Most Iconic Moments in Tar Heel Basketball History

To say that the University of North Carolina is one of the premier college basketball programs is like saying that McDonalds has sold some hamburgers.

In 101 years of competition, the Tar Heels rank third in the nation in all-time wins (2,033 behind only Kansas and Kentucky).

Legendary coaches such as Frank McGuire and Dean Smith established an incredible standard of success, leading UNC to hundreds of victories during their times on the Tar Heel sidelines.

And this great winning tradition continues to this day.

In fact, Roy Williams' 2011-12 squad has already been selected as one of the preseason favorites to cut down the nets in New Orleans, possibly bringing another NCAA Championship back to Chapel Hill.

Let's take a quick look at the top 12 iconic moments in UNC basketball history.

The list is prepared in chronological order, giving us a timeline of Tar Heel greatness.

A Few Milestone Victories

A program like North Carolina has dozens and dozens of notable events that could be selected for a list like this.

Here are some milestone victories from the Tar Heel archives:

100th Win: At Duke, March 7, 1922 (already giving the Blue Devils fits)

500th Win: Against NC State in Southern Conference Tournament, February 22, 1945

1000th Win: Against Maryland, January 29, 1972 

1500th Win: Against NC State, Feb 7, 1991

Thanks to an online edition of the 2006-07 Tar Heel Media Guide for providing a wealth of historical information that is used throughout this article

12. First Victory

North Carolina basketball began over 101 years ago.

On January 27, 1910, UNC beat Virginia Christian 42-21. 

In 1910, no one knew what would become of the sport of basketball, let alone Tar Heel basketball.

Do you think that the team that is pictured had any idea of what would happen in future years?

11. First NCAA Tournament Win

On March 21, 1946, the Tar Heels beat NYU at Madison Square Garden for UNC's first taste of NCAA Tournament success.

John "Hook" Dillon (pictured) was one of the team's leading scorers.

At that time, unlike now, the NCAA and National Invitational Tournaments both competed for the nation's best teams.

North Carolina lost five days later in the NCAA Championship Game, 43-40, to Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State).

10. First NCAA Championship

In what is still considered one of the greatest NCAA Championship games of all time, North Carolina beat a Wilt Chamberlain-led Kansas team in triple-overtime 54-53.

The Tar Heels leading scorer Lenny Rosenbluth (pictured) fouled out in regulation.

Joe Quigg hit the clinching free throws with six seconds in the third OT to seal the victory, the championship and a perfect 32-0 season.

UNC coach Frank McGuire would go on to compile a 181-68 record in nine seasons at the Tar Heel helm.

9. First Win Under Dean Smith

In 1958, Frank McGuire asked a young coach from Emporia, Kansas to join his staff.

For the next three years, Dean Smith served as a UNC assistant coach.

In 1961, McGuire was forced to resign because of recruiting scandals.

But, a 30-year-old Smith was promoted to the position of head coach.

On Dec 2, 1961 UNC dominated Virginia, 80-46, for the first win of the Dean Smith era.

And the rest, as they say, was.........

8. First NCAA Tournament Win for Dean Smith

On March 17, 1967, North Carolina (fourth ranked) beat No. 5 Princeton for Smith's first NCAA Tournament win.

Within days, the Tar Heels advanced to Smith's first of 11 Final Four appearances.

Smith is tied with Mike Krzyzewski for second place of all Division I coaches. John Wooden is No.1 with 12 Final Four appearances.

7. Dean Smith's First NCAA Title

Even for some of the best, it doesn't happen over-night.

Dean Smith won his first NCAA title in his 20th year as the UNC head coach.

Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Sam Perkins led the way as the Tar Heels beat Georgetown 63-62 on a last-minute Jordan jumper.

If you didn't catch the game live....Watch some of the action now!

6. First Win in the Dean Dome

The first game at the Dean E. Smith Center pitted the top-ranked Tar Heels against the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils on January 18, 1986.

You know that you are a coaching legend when you play in an arena that they name after you...while you are still coaching.

Warren Martin scored the first Tar Heel basket in the new arena and Kenny Smith was credited with the assist.

North Carolina ended up defeating Duke 95-92. Can't script it any better, can you?

5. Dean Smith's Second NCAA Title

Some people's expectation is that once you win an NCAA title, it will be a piece of cake from that point forward.

Not true.

It took a coach as great as Dean Smith 11 more years after he won his first NCAA Championship to win his second.

On April 5, 1993, the Tar Heels beat Michigan 77-71.

One of the most remembered portions of the game came in its closing seconds when Michigan's star forward, Chris Webber, called a time out that the Wolverines didn't have.

4. Dean Smith's 877th Win

On March 15, 1997, Dean Smith's Tar Heels beat Colorado 73-56 in a NCAA Tournament Second Round match-up.

The significance of this victory is that it put Smith at the top of the all-time D-I coaches list, surpassing Adolph Rupp.

Rupp won his 876 games in 41 years.

Smith, who went on to win two more games after this, accomplished this in 36 years. 

4. Roy Williams' First NCAA Title

After years of coaching success at Kansas without winning an NCAA Championship, the Tar Heels helped Roy Williams win his first NCAA Tournament.

On April 4, 2005, UNC beat Illinois, 75-70 for the school's fourth national men's basketball title.

This was only the fourth No.1 vs No. 1 seed matchup in tourney history.

Most Outstanding Player Sean May had 26 points and 10 rebounds.

With tongue-in-cheek, Williams said after the game, "I'm no better coach than I was three hours ago."

3. 18th Final Four

By beating Oklahoma on March 29, 2009 in the South Region Finals, North Carolina advanced to the Final Four.

This was the programs 18th Final Four appearance which put them on top of the list of all D-I schools.

UCLA has technically had 18 appearances too, but they had to vacate one.

To compare, other top programs have the following number of appearances:

Duke:15

Kentucky: 14

Kansas: 13

2. Roy Williams' Second NCAA Title

On April 6, 2009, UNC won their fifth NCAA Championship as the Tar Heels defeated Michigan State 89-72.

This gave Roy Williams his second NCAA Title in four years. 

All six of the Tar Heels 2009 tournament victories came by at least 12 points, for an average victory margin of 20.2 points. 

They only trailed for a total of 10 minutes out of 240 through the entire tournament.

While Wayne Ellington was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, this victory was the perfect ending to Tyler Hansbrough's outstanding career.

Look inside the UNC 2009 Championship Locker Room!

1. 2000th Win

Marcus Ginyard (pictured) put up a 12/12 double double on March 2, 2010, as UNC beat Miami 69-62.

Not big news other than this was the Tar Heels 2,000 win of all time.

This was an odd moment. While it was huge from the overall standpoint of the program's history, this was a non-momentous win in a frustrating year.

The Tar Heels finished the 2009-10 season with a 16-16 record (for the regular season and ACC tournament) and didn't qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

While they qualified for the NIT, and made it to the Championship Game, the Tar Heels lost to Dayton in the title contest.

April 2, 2012????

Could the next entry on this list be added in the early spring of 2012?

The Tar Heels have the talent, experience and depth to make it happen.

But, you don't win championships on paper.

The five UNC Championships have been won through hard work and skillful play.

This year will be no different.

Whoever wins will do so because they have made the effort, played together and peaked at just the right time.

Could it be the Tar Heels year again?

We will see in about seven months...