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

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 1956–57 North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball 1957_North_Carolina.jpg 300px Atlantic Coast Conference ACC 1 1 32–0 14–0 Frank McGuire Buck Freeman Woollen Gymnasium NCAA tournament National championsACC tournament championsNCAA regular season championsACC regular season champions National Championship Game W Won 54–53 3OT Triple overtime vs. Kansas The 1956–57 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team was the varsity college basketball team that represented the University of North Carolina.UNC N The school was known as the University of North Carolina until February 1963.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37987195/the_daily_tar_heel/ The Daily Tar Heel 1 February 6, 1963 Pearsall Group Recommends 5-Part Plan For University Vance Barron October 27, 2019 Newspapers.com 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 74–70. 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 rosterNo.NamePositionHeightWeightClassHometown 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:National Collegiate Basketball Championship National Collegiate Athletic Association http://worldonline.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/kusports/pdf/2007/ncaa-50-years-ago.pdf 13–14 June 6, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304034224/http://worldonline.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/kusports/pdf/2007/ncaa-50-years-ago.pdf March 4, 2016 live Morris 1988 281 Schedule no no no no |+Schedule2009–10 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball media guide https://web.archive.org/web/20100215073107/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/unc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2010mediaguide_88-208.pdf 2010-02-15 , University of North Carolina, retrieved 2009-12-31Wade 1957 8Wade Merritt 1956 1 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#56A0D3; color:#FFFFFF;"| Regular season 1956/12/04 94–66 yes no Furman Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC 1–0 1956/12/08 94–75 no no Clemson yes Charlotte, NC 2–0 1956/12/12 82–55 yes no George Washington yes Norfolk, VA 3–0 1956/12/15 90–86OT no no yes South Carolina Carolina Fieldhouse Columbia, SC 4–0 1956/12/17 70–61 no no Maryland Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC 5–0 1956/12/20 64–59 yes no NYU yes Madison Square Garden New York City 6–0 1956/12/21 89–61 yes no Dartmouth yes Boston Garden Boston 7–0 1956/12/22 83–70 yes no Holy Cross yes Boston Garden Boston 8–0 1956/12/27 97–76 yes no Utah yes Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC Dixie Classic 9–0 1956/12/28 87–71 yes no Duke yes Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC Dixie Classic 10–0 1956/12/29 63–55 yes no Wake Forest yes Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC Dixie Classic 11–0 1957/01/08 71–61 yes no yes William & Mary Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA 12–0 1957/01/11 86–54 no no Clemson Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC 13–0 1957/01/12 102–90 no no Virginia Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC 14–0 1957/01/15 83–57 no no yes NC State Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC 15–0 1957/01/30 77–59 yes no yes Western Carolina Breese Gymnasium Cullowhee, NC 16–0 1957/02/05 65–612OT no no yes Maryland Cole Field House College Park, MD 17–0 1957/02/09 75–73 no no Duke Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC 18–0 1957/02/11 68–59 no no yes Virginia Memorial Gymnasium Charlottesville, VA 19–0 1957/02/13 72–69 no no Wake Forest Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC 20–0 1957/02/19 86–57 no no NC State Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC 21–0 1957/02/22 75–62 no no South Carolina Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC 22–0 1957/02/26 69–64 no no yes Wake Forest Memorial Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC 23–0 1957/03/01 86–72 no no yes Duke Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC 24–0 |- !colspan=8 style="background:#56A0D3; color:#FFFFFF;"| ACC tournament 1957/03/07 81–61 no no Clemson yes Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC ACC tournament 25–0 1957/03/08 61–59 no no Wake Forest yes Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC ACC tournament 26–0 1957/03/09 95–75 no no South Carolina yes Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC ACC tournament 27–0 |- !colspan=8 style="background:#56A0D3; color:#FFFFFF;"| NCAA tournament 1957/03/12 90–74 no no Yale yes Madison Square Garden New York City NCAA east regional quarterfinal 28–0 1957/03/15 87–75 no no Canisius yes Palestra Philadelphia, PA NCAA east regional semifinal 29–0 1957/03/16 67–58 no no Syracuse yes Palestra Philadelphia, PA NCAA east regional final 30–0 1957/03/22 74–703OT no no Michigan State yes Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO NCAA national semifinal 31–0 1957/03/23 54–533OT no no Kansas yes Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO NCAA championship 32–0 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 1956–57 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game Random House 652–653 2009 978-0-345-51392-2 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 N Citations 30em Bibliography Lucas Adam The Best Game Ever: How Frank McGuire's '57 Tar Heels Beat Wilt and Revolutionized College Basketball Guilford, Connecticut Lyons Press https://books.google.com/books?id=9kB9CAAAQBAJ 2006 978-1-59228-982-0 Lucas Adam Carolina Basketball: A Century of Excellence Chapel Hill, North Carolina University of North Carolina Press 2010 https://books.google.com/books?id=rK6ylz8eMCMC 978-0-8078-3410-7 Morris Ron ACC Basketball: An Illustrated History Four Corners Press 1988 Chapel Hill, North Carolina 978-0-9609548-9-6 1956 Wade Jack Merritt Davis Jr. https://archive.org/details/uncbasketballblu19561957/page/n1/mode/2up June 17, 2014 University of North Carolina 1956–57 Basketball Blue Book 1957 Wade Jack Carmichael III Billy Campbell Orville Thompson Wayne Myers Bob https://archive.org/details/uncbasketballblu19571958/mode/1up June 17, 2014 University of North Carolina 1957–58 Basketball Blue Book 1957 Wade Jack https://archive.org/details/uncbasketballdir19561957/mode/2up June 17, 2014 University of North Carolina 1956–57 Post–Season Basketball Blue Book Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons Category:North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball seasons North Carolina Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons North Carolina Tar Tar