1997–98 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

The 1997–98 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Bill Guthridge, who was in his first season as UNC's head men's basketball coach. The Tar Heels played their home games at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

1997–98 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
ACC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 1
Record34–4 (13–3 ACC Atlantic Coast Conference)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaDean Smith Center
Seasons
1997–98 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Duke 15 1   .938 32 4   .889
No. 1 North Carolina 13 3   .813 34 4   .895
No. 20 Maryland 10 6   .625 21 11   .656
Wake Forest 7 9   .438 16 14   .533
Clemson 7 9   .438 18 14   .563
Georgia Tech 6 10   .375 19 14   .576
Florida State 6 10   .375 18 4   .818
NC State 5 11   .313 17 15   .531
Virginia 3 13   .188 11 19   .367
1998 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Roster

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1997–98 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
C 00 Brendan Haywood 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Fr Dudley Greensboro, North Carolina
G 3 Shammond Williams (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Fork Union Military Greenville, South Carolina
F 4 Makhtar N'Diaye (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sr Oak Hill Academy Dakar, Senegal
G 5 Ed Cota 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 177 lb (80 kg) So St. Thomas More School Brooklyn, New York
G 11 Michael Booker 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 193 lb (88 kg) Fr Brentwood Academy Sandersville, Georgia
F/C 13 Ademola Okulaja 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 231 lb (105 kg) Jr John F. Kennedy High School Berlin, Germany
G/F 15 Vince Carter 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Jr Mainland High School Daytona Beach, Florida
G 21 Terrence Newby 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 207 lb (94 kg) So Jordan-Matthews Siler City, North Carolina
G 22 Scott Williams 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 156 lb (71 kg) Jr Lawrence Lawrence, Kansas
F 24 Max Owens 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Mount Zion Academy Macon, Georgia
F 32 Orlando Meléndez 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr McDowell Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico
F/C 33 Antawn Jamison 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Jr Providence Charlotte, North Carolina
F 35 Brad Frederick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Lawrence Lawrence, Kansas
F/C 50 Brian Bersticker 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Kempsville Virginia Beach, Virginia
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

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This season was Guthridge's first year as head coach, after the unexpected retirement of Dean Smith two months before the start of the season.

Guthridge instituted a "six starters" system, whereby the team's top six players, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Ed Cota, Shammond Williams, Ademola Okulaja and Makhtar N'Diaye rotated positions in the starting five.[1]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
Nov 14, 1997*
No. 4 Middle Tennessee W 84–56  1–0
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Nov 19, 1997*
No. 4 at Richmond W 84–65  2–0
Robins Center 
Richmond, VA
Nov 22, 1997*
No. 4 California W 71–47  3–0
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Nov 27, 1997*
No. 4 vs. No. 7 UCLA
Great Alaska Shootout
W 109–68  4-0
Sullivan Arena 
Anchorage, AK
Nov 28, 1997*
No. 4 vs. Seton Hall
Great Alaska Shootout
W 95–65  5-0
Sullivan Arena 
Anchorage, AK
Nov 29, 1997*
No. 4 vs. No. 6 Purdue
Great Alaska Shootout
W 73–69  6–0
Sullivan Arena 
Anchorage, AK
Dec 3, 1997*
No. 3 vs. Louisville W 81–72  7–0
United Center 
Chicago, IL
Dec 5, 1997*
No. 3 vs. Chattanooga W 68–38  8–0
Bojangles Coliseum 
Charlotte, NC
Dec 6, 1997*
No. 3 vs. Virginia Tech W 78–57  9–0
Bojangles Coliseum 
Charlotte, NC
Dec 13, 1997*
No. 2 Princeton W 50–42  10–0
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 16, 1997*
No. 1 Hampton W 92–69  11–0
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 20, 1997
No. 1 at No. 17 Florida State W 81–73  12–0
(1–0)
Donald L. Tucker Civic Center 
Tallahassee, FL
Dec 27, 1997*
No. 1 at Georgia W 82–80 OT 13–0
Stegeman Coliseum 
Athens, GA
Dec 29, 1997*
No. 1 at Bethune–Cookman W 97–46  14–0
Moore Gymnasium 
Daytona Beach, FL
Jan 3, 1998
No. 1 at No. 21 Clemson W 73–70  15–0
(2–0)
Littlejohn Coliseum 
Clemson, SC
Jan 8, 1998
No. 1 Georgia Tech W 96–75  16–0
(3–0)
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 10, 1998
No. 1 Virginia W 81–73  17–0
(4–0)
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 14, 1998
No. 1 at Maryland L 83–89 OT 17–1
(4–1)
Cole Field House 
College Park, MD
Jan 17, 1998*
No. 1 Appalachian State W 96–63  18–1
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 21, 1998
No. 2 at NC State
Carolina–State Game
W 74–60  19–1
(5–1)
Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
Jan 24, 1998
No. 2 No. 20 Florida State W 103–55  20–1
(6–1)
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 28, 1998
No. 2 Clemson W 88–79  21–1
(7–1)
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 31, 1998
No. 2 at Wake Forest W 79–73  22–1
(8–1)
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, NC
Feb 5, 1998
No. 2 No. 1 Duke
Rivalry
W 97–73  23–1
(9–1)
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 8, 1998
No. 2 at Georgia Tech W 107–100 OT 24–1
(10–1)
Alexander Memorial Coliseum 
Atlanta, GA
Feb 11, 1998
No. 1 at Virginia W 60–45  25–1
(11–1)
University Hall 
Charlottesville, VA
Feb 14, 1998
No. 1 No. 24 Maryland W 85–67  26–1
(12–1)
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 21, 1998
No. 1 NC State
Carolina–State Game
L 72–86  26–2
(12–2)
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 24, 1998
No. 3 Wake Forest W 72–53  27–2
(13–2)
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 28, 1998
No. 3 at No. 1 Duke
Rivalry
L 75–77  27–3
(13–3)
Cameron Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
ACC tournament
Mar 6, 1998
(2) No. 4 vs. (7) NC State
Quarterfinals
W 73–46  28–3
Greensboro Coliseum Complex 
Greensboro, NC
Mar 7, 1998
(2) No. 4 vs. (3) No. 21 Maryland
Semifinals
W 83–73 OT 29–3
Greensboro Coliseum Complex 
Greensboro, NC
Mar 8, 1998
(2) No. 4 vs. (1) No. 1 Duke
Championship Game
W 83–68  30–3
Greensboro Coliseum Complex 
Greensboro, NC
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1998*
(1 E) No. 1 vs. (16 E) Navy
First Round
W 88–52  31–3
Hartford Civic Center 
Hartford, CT
Mar 14, 1998*
(1 E) No. 1 vs. (8 E) Charlotte
Second Round
W 93–83 OT 32–3
Hartford Civic Center 
Hartford, CT
Mar 19, 1998*
(1 E) No. 1 vs. (4 E) No. 16 Michigan State
Sweet Sixteen
W 73–58  33–3
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
Mar 21, 1998*
(1 E) No. 1 vs. (2 E) No. 6 Connecticut
Elite Eight
W 75–64  34–3
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
Mar 28, 1998*
(1 E) No. 1 vs. (3 W) No. 7 Utah
Final Four
L 59–65[2]  34–4
Alamodome 
San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
E=East region.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Team players drafted into the NBA

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Year Round Pick Player NBA Club
1998 1 4 Antawn Jamison Toronto Raptors
1 5 Vince Carter Golden State Warriors
2 34 Shammond Williams Chicago Bulls
2001 1 20 Brendan Haywood Cleveland Cavaliers

References

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  1. ^ Chansky, Art; Dick Vitale (2006). Blue Blood: Duke-Carolina: Inside the Most Storied Rivalry in College Hoops. Macmillan. pp. 292–294. ISBN 0-312-32788-9. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  2. ^ "Utes Hold off Tar Heels, 65-59". The Washington Post. March 29, 1998. Retrieved March 10, 2019.