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

1956–57 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions ACC tournament champions ACC regular season champions
National Championship Game, W 54-53^3OT vs. Kansas
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	32–0 (14–0 ACC)
Head coach	Frank McGuire
Assistant coach	Buck Freeman
Home arena	Woollen Gymnasium

1956–57 ACC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 North Carolina†	14	–	0		1.000			32	–	0		1.000
Maryland	9	–	5		.643			16	–	10		.615
Duke	8	–	6		.571			13	–	11		.542
No. 18 Wake Forest	7	–	7		.500			19	–	9		.679
NC State	7	–	7		.500			15	–	11		.577
South Carolina	5	–	9		.357			17	–	12		.586
Virginia	3	–	11		.214			6	–	19		.240
Clemson	3	–	11		.214			7	–	17		.292
† 1957 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

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

1956–57 North Carolina Tar Heels roster

No.	Name	Position	Height	Weight	Class	Hometown
10	Lennie Rosenbluth	F	6–5	180	Senior	Bronx, New York
11	Ken Rosemond	G	5–10	155	Junior	Hillsborough, North Carolina
20	Bob Young	C	6–6	220	Senior	Queens, New York
22	Roy Searcy	F	6–4	185	Junior	Draper, North Carolina
31	Gehrmann Holland	F	6–3	200	Sophomore	Beaufort, North Carolina
32	Bob Cunningham	G	6–4	190	Junior	New York City, New York
33	Danny Lotz	F	6–7	198	Sophomore	Northport, New York
35	Pete Brennan	F	6–6	190	Junior	Brooklyn, New York
40	Tommy Kearns	G	5–11	191	Junior	Bergenfield, New Jersey
41	Joe Quigg	C	6–9	210	Junior	Brooklyn, New York
Reference:[3][4]

Schedule

Schedule[5][6][7]

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
1956/12/04*	Furman	W 94–66	1–0	Woollen Gymnasium  Chapel Hill, NC
1956/12/08	vs. Clemson	W 94–75	2–0	Charlotte, NC
1956/12/12*	vs. George Washington	W 82–55	3–0	Norfolk, VA
1956/12/15	at South Carolina	W 90–86^OT	4–0	Carolina Fieldhouse  Columbia, SC
1956/12/17	Maryland	W 70–61	5–0	Woollen Gymnasium  Chapel Hill, NC
1956/12/20*	vs. NYU	W 64–59	6–0	Madison Square Garden  New York City
1956/12/21*	vs. Dartmouth	W 89–61	7–0	Boston Garden  Boston
1956/12/22*	vs. Holy Cross	W 83–70	8–0	Boston Garden  Boston
1956/12/27*	vs. Utah Dixie Classic	W 97–76	9–0	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
1956/12/28*	vs. Duke Dixie Classic	W 87–71	10–0	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
1956/12/29*	vs. Wake Forest Dixie Classic	W 63–55	11–0	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
1957/01/08*	at William & Mary	W 71–61	12–0	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, VA
1957/01/11	Clemson	W 86–54	13–0	Woollen Gymnasium  Chapel Hill, NC
1957/01/12	Virginia	W 102–90	14–0	Woollen Gymnasium  Chapel Hill, NC
1957/01/15	at NC State	W 83–57	15–0	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
1957/01/30*	at Western Carolina	W 77–59	16–0	Breese Gymnasium  Cullowhee, NC
1957/02/05	at Maryland	W 65–61^2OT	17–0	Cole Field House  College Park, MD
1957/02/09	Duke	W 75–73	18–0	Woollen Gymnasium  Chapel Hill, NC
1957/02/11	at Virginia	W 68–59	19–0	Memorial Gymnasium  Charlottesville, VA
1957/02/13	Wake Forest	W 72–69	20–0	Woollen Gymnasium  Chapel Hill, NC
1957/02/19	NC State	W 86–57	21–0	Woollen Gymnasium  Chapel Hill, NC
1957/02/22	South Carolina	W 75–62	22–0	Woollen Gymnasium  Chapel Hill, NC
1957/02/26	at Wake Forest	W 69–64	23–0	Memorial Coliseum  Winston-Salem, NC
1957/03/01	at Duke	W 86–72	24–0	Cameron Indoor Stadium  Durham, NC
ACC tournament
1957/03/07	vs. Clemson ACC tournament	W 81–61	25–0	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
1957/03/08	vs. Wake Forest ACC tournament	W 61–59	26–0	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
1957/03/09	vs. South Carolina ACC tournament	W 95–75	27–0	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
NCAA tournament
1957/03/12	vs. Yale NCAA east regional quarterfinal	W 90–74	28–0	Madison Square Garden  New York City
1957/03/15	vs. Canisius NCAA east regional semifinal	W 87–75	29–0	Palestra  Philadelphia, PA
1957/03/16	vs. Syracuse NCAA east regional final	W 67–58	30–0	Palestra  Philadelphia, PA
1957/03/22	vs. Michigan State NCAA national semifinal	W 74–70^3OT	31–0	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, MO
1957/03/23	vs. Kansas NCAA championship	W 54–53^3OT	32–0	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

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

Main article: 1956–57 NCAA University Division men's basketball 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.