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The 2016 season was the last double-dip for the Tar Heels.
It is ironic that this year’s ACC Tournament is in Washington, D.C., the site where Carolina last cut down the ACC nets after winning the regular season championship.
And, of course, it was also the year of Marcus Paige’s famous double-clutch 3-pointer to tie the national championship game, followed by a Villanova buzzer beater in Houston. The very next year, 2017, the Heels won their latest NCAA title in Phoenix, where the 2024 Final Four will be played.
Is the universe trying to tell us something?
The last tourney in Washington was one to remember for third-ranked UNC. It followed Carolina finishing first in the ACC with a 14-4 record, one game ahead of No. 4 Virginia and No. 10 Miami and two games ahead of 19th-ranked Duke.
The Most Outstanding Player in that tournament was sophomore guard Joel Berry, who the following year was the MVP of the Final Four wins over Oregon and Gonzaga. Berry is now part of the ACC Network broadcast team on the Nothing But Net pre-game, halftime and post-game reports.
The 2016 ACC tournament title was Roy Williams’ third at UNC, but his first since going back-to-back in 2007 and ’08. Here we are eight years later, and Hubert Davis is trying to complete his first such two-fer. It sure seems like a big game of what comes around.
In 2016, Carolina beat Virginia for the third straight time in the ACC tourney while posting a 14-7 regular season against the Wahoos up to that point of the Williams era. Those Cavaliers had ACC Player of the Year Malcolm Brogden and were less of a ball-control offensive and tenacious defensive team that eventually made their coach Tony Bennett famous.
The Tar Heels had lost to the Wahoos in Charlottesville during the regular season, 79-74, in a faster-paced game than Bennett preferred, and Williams was determined to play even faster in the tournament final. That didn’t happen. But the Heels stayed close enough to pull ahead late and win 61-57. Berry shot 3 for 3 from outside, UNC’s only three-pointers of the game while shooting 51 percent overall.
Berry, Paige and Brice Johnson combined for 44 points while Virginia got 28 from Brogden and Anthony Gill. Those five players made the all-tournament first team.
With Berry now watching from the broadcast table, the Tar Heels are trying to win both ACC titles once again.
Featured image via Associated Press/Cal Cary
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
