1988–89 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

1988–89 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
1988–89 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
ACC tournament champion
NCAA tournament, Sweet 16
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 5
Record	29–8 (9–5 ACC)
Head coach	Dean Smith (27th season);
Assistant coaches	Bill Guthridge (21st season); Dick Harp (3rd season);
Captains	Steve Bucknall; Jeff Lebo;
Home arena	Dean Smith Center

1988–89 ACC men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 19 NC State	10	–	4	.714	22	–	9	.710
No. 9 Duke	9	–	5	.643	28	–	8	.778
Virginia	9	–	5	.643	22	–	11	.667
No. 5 North Carolina †	9	–	5	.643	29	–	8	.784
Georgia Tech	8	–	6	.571	20	–	12	.625
Clemson	7	–	7	.500	19	–	11	.633
Wake Forest	3	–	11	.214	13	–	15	.464
Maryland	1	–	13	.071	9	–	20	.310

† 1989 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1988–89 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.^[1]

Led by head coach Dean Smith, the Tar Heels won 29 games, achieved a top ten ranking, and reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. ^[2]

Roster^[2]^[3]

1988–89 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	3	Jeff Denny	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Jr	Rural Hall, North Carolina
G	14	Jeff Lebo	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Carlisle, Pennsylvania
F	20	Steve Bucknall	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	London, United Kingdom
G	21	King Rice	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	So	Binghamton, New York
G/F	22	Kevin Madden	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Jr	Staunton, Virginia
F	31	David May	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Sr	Greensboro, North Carolina
F	32	Pete Chilcutt	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	So	Eutaw, Alabama
F	34	J. R. Reid	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	247 lb (112 kg)	Jr	Virginia Beach, Virginia
G	40	Hubert Davis	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	Fr	Burke, Virginia
C	42	Scott Williams	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	Hacienda Heights, California
F	44	Rick Fox	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	Nassau, Bahamas
F/C	45	Marty Hensley	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	—	Jr	Marion, North Carolina
G/F	50	Bill Akins	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Jr	Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
C	54	John Greene	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	Jr	Raleigh, North Carolina

Head coach

Dean Smith (Kansas)

Assistant coach(es)

Bill Guthridge (Kansas State)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular Season
Nov 18, 1988*	No. 6	Chattanooga Preseason NIT	W 111–84	1–0	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Nov 19, 1988*	No. 6	Georgia Preseason NIT	W 99–91	2–0	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Nov 20, 1988*	No. 5	vs. No. 14 Missouri Preseason NIT	L 81–91	2–1	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Nov 25, 1988*	No. 5	vs. No. 20 Indiana Preseason NIT Consolation	W 106–92	3–1	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Nov 28, 1988*	No. 5	Stanford	W 87–76	4–1	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Dec 2, 1988*	No. 10	vs. No. 11 Arizona Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions	W 79–72	5–1	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 3, 1988*	No. 10	vs. No. 8 Missouri Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions	W 76–60	6–1	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 7, 1988*	No. 8	Vanderbilt	W 89–77	7–1	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Dec 10, 1988*	No. 8	vs. Richmond	W 76–68	8–1	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina
Dec 17, 1988*	No. 8	No. 20 UCLA	W 104–78	9–1	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Dec 22, 1988*	No. 8	vs. Towson State	W 102–74	10–1	HersheyPark Arena Hershey, PA
Dec 29, 1988*	No. 7	at San Diego State	W 103–92	11–1	Peterson Gym San Diego, California
Jan 3, 1989*	No. 6	at Pepperdine	W 102–80	12–1	Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, California
Jan 5, 1989*	No. 6	at DePaul	W 87–67	13–1	Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois
Jan 7, 1989*	No. 6	No. 9 Iowa	L 97–98^[4]	13–2	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Jan 11, 1989	No. 8	Maryland	W 88–72	14–2 (1–0)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Jan 15, 1989	No. 8	at Virginia	L 83–106	14–3 (1–1)	University Hall Charlottesville, Virginia
Jan 18, 1989	No. 13	at No. 1 Duke	W 91–71	15–3 (2–1)	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina
Jan 21, 1989	No. 13	No. 15 NC State	W 84–81	16–3 (3–1)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Jan 25, 1989	No. 7	at Wake Forest	W 88–74	17–3 (4–1)	Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 28, 1989	No. 7	Georgia Tech	W 92–85	18–3 (5–1)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Feb 1, 1989	No. 3	at Clemson	L 82–85	18–4 (5–2)	Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, South Carolina
Feb 9, 1989	No. 6	at No. 17 NC State	L 88–98	18–5 (5–3)	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina
Feb 12, 1989	No. 6	Virginia	W 85–67	19–5 (6–3)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Feb 14, 1989*	No. 8	at Old Dominion	W 87–77	20–5	Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia
Feb 16, 1989	No. 8	Wake Forest	W 99–76	21–5 (7–3)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Feb 19, 1989	No. 8	at Maryland	W 86–75	22–5 (8–3)	Cole Fieldhouse College Park, Maryland
Feb 21, 1989*	No. 5	Nevada	W 109–86	23–5	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Feb 25, 1989	No. 5	Clemson	W 100–86	24–5 (9–3)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Mar 1, 1989	No. 5	at Georgia Tech	L 74–76	24–6 (9–4)	Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 5, 1989	No. 5	No. 9 Duke	L 86–88	24–7 (9–5)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
ACC Tournament
Mar 10, 1989*	No. 9	at Georgia Tech ACC Tournament Quarterfinal	W 77–62	25–7	Omni Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 11, 1989*	No. 9	vs. Maryland ACC Tournament Semifinal	W 88–58	26–7	Omni Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 12, 1989*	No. 9	vs. No. 7 Duke ACC tournament championship	W 77–74	27–7	Omni Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia
NCAA tournament
Mar 17, 1989*	(2 SE) No. 5	vs. (15 SE) Southern First round	W 93–79	28–7	Omni Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 19, 1989*	(2 SE) No. 5	vs. (7 SE) UCLA Second Round	W 88–81	29–7	Omni Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 23, 1989*	(2 SE) No. 5	vs. (3 SE) No. 10 Michigan Southeast Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 87–92	29–8	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[5]

Rankings

NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA club
1	5	J. R. Reid	Charlotte Hornets

^[6]

References

^ "1988-89 UNC Tar Heels Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
^ ^a ^b "North Carolina Tar Heels 1988-1989 Basketball Roster". Tar Heel Times. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
^ "Tar Heels appear to be on a mission". Greensboro News and Record. March 9, 1989. p. 90.
^ "N. Carolina Upset by Iowa On Free Throw by Marble". The New York Times. January 8, 1989. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
^ "2019–20 North Carolina Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
^ "1989 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

[sports-reference-1] "1988-89 UNC Tar Heels Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved June 1, 2018.

[tarheeltimes-2] "North Carolina Tar Heels 1988-1989 Basketball Roster". Tar Heel Times. Retrieved March 15, 2019.

[3] "Tar Heels appear to be on a mission". Greensboro News and Record. March 9, 1989. p. 90.

[4] "N. Carolina Upset by Iowa On Free Throw by Marble". The New York Times. January 8, 1989. Retrieved September 13, 2020.

[5] "2019–20 North Carolina Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

[6] "1989 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

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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 Academic-athletic scandal Gambling 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 2025–26
Helms national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics

Roster[2][3]

Schedule and results

Rankings

NBA draft

References

Roster^[2]^[3]