The University of National Champions
The local University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Tar Heels have been educating the greatest athletes in sports history and winning trophies along the way for decades. Since 1977, every four-year student at UNC has witnessed the Tar Heels win at least one national championship during their attendance. When looking back at this continual dominance, there are certain years, teams and athletes that were especially influential to keeping this winning tradition. ‘Hark the Sound’ with us as we reflect on some of the most important championship winners to wear Carolina Blue.
1957 Men’s Basketball
This team represents the first NCAA tournament championship in the history of the prestigious basketball program and the first NCAA championship in the history of UNC sports. Led by Naismith Hall of Fame coach Frank McGuire and national player of the year Lennie Rosenbluth, the ’57 Heels capped off an undefeated season with a triple-overtime victory over the Kansas Jayhawks featuring basketball icon Wilt Chamberlain. The team is cherished for bringing a national spotlight to the UNC men’s basketball team, for giving UNC its first NCAA title and, some would say most importantly, for introducing the Tar Heels to future head coach Dean Smith.
1981 Sue Walsh, Women’s Swimming
Sue Walsh is easily one of the greatest Carolina champions of all-time. Her dynasty began in 1981 with national swimming titles in backstroke and the women’s medley relay. During her Carolina career, she went on to win 12 national championships. Walsh is a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and holds six women’s swimming world records to this day.
1982 Men’s Basketball
Universally praised as one of the greatest college basketball teams of all time, the 1982 men’s basketball Tar Heels were a shoo-in for this list. Forty years ago, in the New Orleans Superdome, the team led by future NBA legends James Worthy, Sam Perkins and a then-unknown freshman named Michael Jordan earned Dean Smith his first national championship. Sitting by the coach’s side were Bill Gutheridge and Glen Lennox alumnus Roy Williams, who both went on to be Naismith Hall of Fame head coaches of the program. When the Tar Heels beat Patrick Ewing and the Georgetown University Hoyas, they not only made themselves champions, they became superstars.
1989 Women’s Soccer
The UNC women’s soccer team has so many great championship years to appreciate, 21 to be exact. Coach Anson Dorrance’s club has taken the title in 52.5% of all NCAA tournaments in history, better than a coin-flip’s odds of winning it all! 1989 was amidst the program’s march to eight-straight championships starting in 1986, but what makes ’89 especially significant is it marks the beginning of Mia Hamm’s career, the greatest female athlete to ever play the game. Hamm scored a remarkable 21 goals her freshman year and went on to lead the nation in scoring her next three years, earn Player of the Year honors in two straight years and win a national title every year she played.
1994 Women’s Basketball
With the success of UNC sports teams winning NCAA titles, basketball usually holds the lion’s share of the media spotlight – specifically the men’s team. However, in 1994 that spotlight was solely on the Lady Tar Heels who brought home the women’s basketball program’s first and only national title in a thrilling classic. With .7 seconds left in overtime versus Louisiana Tech, the great Charlotte Smith sank a buzzer-beating shot and coach Sylvia Hatchell’s Tar Heels had their first championship. Smith, who rocked #23 like another Tar Heel great, would be named Final Four Most Outstanding Player, National Player of the Year in 1995 and won an Olympic gold medal in 1996.
2018 Field Hockey
Like women’s soccer, Field Hockey has a championship-caliber tradition to be proud of – 10 championships in total with two of them being undefeated seasons. 2018 is especially significant because the seventh title under coach Karen Shelton was led by tournament MVP Ashley Hoffman and future player of the year Erin Matson. Erin Matson still attends UNC and has made a name for herself as one of the all-time great Carolina competitors. In fact, she is already a member of the U.S. National Team and the Atlantic Coast Conference recently dubbed her the 10th greatest female athlete in conference history.
As we roll towards the 2022-23 school year, will any more Tar Heels bring home the hardware and become worthy our list? Last season, the women’s lacrosse team continued the four-year pattern by bringing home the 2022 title, so we have to ask, who’s next? UNC athletes, your neighbors at Glen Lennox can’t wait to see what you bring this year!