1956–57 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

American college basketball season

The 1956–57 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team was the varsity college basketball team that represented the University of North Carolina.^{[N 1]} The head coach was Frank McGuire. The team played its home games at Woollen Gymnasium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team was the second undefeated national champion in NCAA basketball history and was the first ACC team to win a title. The team notably won its last two games in triple overtime. The Tar Heels leading scorer was player of the year, small forward Lennie Rosenbluth.

In the semifinal against Jumping Johnny Green and Michigan State, to tie the game in regulation, Pete Brennan, usually the power forward, after gathering the rebound, ran the floor like a guard and put in a jump shot with a soft touch. Three overtimes later, UNC won 74 to 70.

This placed undefeated North Carolina for the championship against Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas. Again the game went to triple overtime. Center Joe Quigg made the winning free throws.

Roster

Schedule

Season summary

Hired away from St. John's in 1952 to make North Carolina basketball competitive with rival NC State, legendary coach Frank McGuire mined his native New York for talent and put together a team that won the national championship by slowing down dominating Kansas center Wilt Chamberlain. A veteran lineup led by star forward Lennie Rosenbluth, who averaged 28 points, finished the season a perfect 32–0.

Rankings

^[8]

Awards and honors

• Lennie Rosenbluth, Helms Foundation Player of the Year
• Lennie Rosenbluth, ACC Player of the Year
• Lennie Rosenbluth, 1st Team All-ACC
• Frank McGuire, UPI National Coach of the Year
• Frank McGuire, ACC Coach of the Year
• Tommy Kearns, 1st Team All-ACC
• Pete Brennan, 2nd Team All-ACC

References

Footnotes

1. The school was known as the University of North Carolina until February 1963.^[2]

Citations

1. sports-reference.com 1956-57 Atlantic Coast Conference Season Summary
2. Vance Barron (February 6, 1963). "Pearsall Group Recommends 5-Part Plan For University". The Daily Tar Heel. p. 1. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "National Collegiate Basketball Championship" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 13–14. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
4. Morris 1988, p. 281.
5. 2009–10 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball media guide Archived 2010-02-15 at the Wayback Machine, University of North Carolina, retrieved 2009-12-31
6. Wade 1957, p. 8.
7. Wade & Merritt 1956, p. 1.
8. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 652–653. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

Bibliography

• Lucas, Adam (2006). The Best Game Ever: How Frank McGuire's '57 Tar Heels Beat Wilt and Revolutionized College Basketball. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press. ISBN 978-1-59228-982-0.
• Lucas, Adam (2010). Carolina Basketball: A Century of Excellence. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-3410-7.
• Morris, Ron (1988). ACC Basketball: An Illustrated History. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Four Corners Press. ISBN 978-0-9609548-9-6.
• Wade, Jack; Merritt, Davis Jr., eds. (1956). University of North Carolina 1956–57 Basketball Blue Book. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
• Wade, Jack; Carmichael III, Billy; Campbell, Orville; Thompson, Wayne; Myers, Bob, eds. (1957). University of North Carolina 1957–58 Basketball Blue Book. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
• Wade, Jack, ed. (1957). University of North Carolina 1956–57 Post–Season Basketball Blue Book. Retrieved June 17, 2014.