Thirty-five years ago, the Dean Dome opened versus Duke.
It is hard to believe that the Smith Center has been the home of the Tar Heels for nearly twice as long as Carmichael Auditorium, the original Blue Heaven that hosted the Heels for 20 years.
Every time UNC plays Duke at home, I remember that Saturday afternoon in 1986, when after almost five years of construction Carolina opened the largest on-campus basketball arena in the nation. The opponent was the arch rival from Durham.
It had not yet become the best rivalry in the country, but was on its way. Dean Smith had won his first national championship, and the school’s third in 1982, and UNC would win more games in the decade than any other program. But Duke was becoming a nemesis, having knocked off the Heels in the semis of the 1984 ACC tournament and posted its first win in Carmichael since 1966 the year before.
And this was a giant opportunity for the 16-0 Blue Devils on the national TV stage as the No. 3 team in the country facing the top-ranked and 17-0 Tar Heels of the 54-year-old Smith. Coach K was 38 and in his sixth year at Duke, reaching his program’s first NCAA appearances in the last two years.
Former UNC All-American Billy Cunningham did color analysis for the broadcast, the once-nicknamed Kangaroo Kid wearing a tuxedo for the gig. Jay Bilas was a senior starting center for Duke and afterward said that he and teammate Johnny Dawkins had entered the dome for the first time wide-eyed.
Mark Alarie scored the first basket in what had already been dubbed the Dean Dome, and later Mike Krzyzewski got the first technical foul. Senior Warren Martin scored Carolina’s first bucket; fellow seniors Steve Hale and Brad Daugherty combined for 53 points as the Tar Heels held off a late Duke run for a 95-92 win. The game set the standard for others to follow, with UNC winning 19 of 35 in the Dome.
The building and coaches have aged since then. Roy Williams was 35 and in his eighth year on Smith’s staff. Now 70, he is four years younger than Coach K. The teams aren’t as good, both fighting for a mere NCAA berth Saturday, but they will stage the same kind of a battle that ESPN’s Bilas now says, “always delivers.”
(Featured image: AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
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4th title won? Oops. Try third banner and second title “won”. The Helms banner is a joke and wasn’t even a thing until 1992 after Duke won its second NCAA title.
The story didn’t say “fourth” title, it said “third”. You must have gone to Dook