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

American college basketball season

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
Seasons ← 1955–56 1957–58 →

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

^[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

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

Citations

^ sports-reference.com 1956-57 Atlantic Coast Conference Season Summary
^ 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.
^ "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.
^ Morris 1988, p. 281.
^ 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
^ Wade 1957, p. 8.
^ Wade & Merritt 1956, p. 1.
^ 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.

v t e North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
Venues	Bynum Gymnasium (1910–1923) Tin Can (1924–1938) Woollen Gymnasium (1938–1965) Carmichael Auditorium (1965–1986) Dean Smith Center (1986–present)
Rivalries	Duke (Carlyle Cup) Kentucky NC State Wake Forest
Culture & lore	Rameses The Marching Tar Heels Junior varsity team Inside Carolina Four corners offense Blue blood status Dixie Classic/Big Four Jumpman Invitational Tobacco Road Scandal
People	Head coaches Honorees Honored players NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics

v t e North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball 1956–57 NCAA champions
10 Lennie Rosenbluth 11 Ken Rosemond 32 Bob Cunningham 35 Pete Brennan 40 Tommy Kearns 41 Joe Quigg Head coach Frank McGuire
Assistant coaches Buck Freeman

v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball champions
1939 Oregon 1940 Indiana 1941 Wisconsin 1942 Stanford 1943 Wyoming 1944 Utah 1945 Oklahoma A&M 1946 Oklahoma A&M 1947 Holy Cross 1948 Kentucky 1949 Kentucky 1950 CCNY 1951 Kentucky 1952 Kansas 1953 Indiana 1954 La Salle 1955 San Francisco 1956 San Francisco 1957 North Carolina 1958 Kentucky 1959 California 1960 Ohio State 1961 Cincinnati 1962 Cincinnati 1963 Loyola (IL) 1964 UCLA 1965 UCLA 1966 Texas Western 1967 UCLA 1968 UCLA 1969 UCLA 1970 UCLA 1971 UCLA 1972 UCLA 1973 UCLA 1974 NC State 1975 UCLA 1976 Indiana 1977 Marquette 1978 Kentucky 1979 Michigan State 1980 Louisville 1981 Indiana 1982 North Carolina 1983 NC State 1984 Georgetown 1985 Villanova 1986 Louisville 1987 Indiana 1988 Kansas 1989 Michigan 1990 UNLV 1991 Duke 1992 Duke 1993 North Carolina 1994 Arkansas 1995 UCLA 1996 Kentucky 1997 Arizona 1998 Kentucky 1999 Connecticut 2000 Michigan State 2001 Duke 2002 Maryland 2003 Syracuse 2004 Connecticut 2005 North Carolina 2006 Florida 2007 Florida 2008 Kansas 2009 North Carolina 2010 Duke 2011 Connecticut 2012 Kentucky 2013 Louisville (Vacated) 2014 UConn 2015 Duke 2016 Villanova 2017 North Carolina 2018 Villanova 2019 Virginia 2020 No tournament 2021 Baylor 2022 Kansas 2023 UConn 2024 UConn

NCAA Division I men's basketball champions