Season: 1989-1990
Record: 21-13 overall, 8-6 ACC(3rd place tie)
ACC Tournament: Lost to Virginia in the quarterfinals
NCAA Tournament: Lost to Arkansas in Sweet Sixteen
Roster: Scott Cherry, Pete Chilcutt, Hubert Davis, Jeff Denny, Rick Fox, John Greene, Kenny Harris, Marty Hensley, George Lynch, Kevin Madden, King Rice, Henrik Rodl, Matt Wenstrom, Scott Williams.
Source: UNC Media Guide
This was the original “8-20″ season.
Prior to the 1990 season, UNC was seeded no lower than #3 in the NCAA Tournament. Winning 20 games was a given as was making it to the Sweet Sixteen. Then along came the 1990 team and UNC entered the NCAA Tournament seeded #8 with 19 wins which cast doubts on their ability to attain either benchmark. This was somewhat of a shock then and even more so now looking at the roster. On paper this team had some very good players. Rick Fox, George Lynch, Scott Williams and Hubert Davis all played in the NBA, albeit as role players.
The main issue with the 1990 team was the attrition from the season before in the form of Jeff Lebo, Steve Bucknall and J.R. Reid. This was a bit too much to handle. King Rice ended as the starting PG and in all honesty he may have been the least talented player UNC had at PG during the past 30 seasons save the Doherty years. Rick Fox and Hubert Davis were good offensive players as was George Lynch but in the case of the latter two they were only sophomores Davis was only a sophomore, Lynch a freshman. Kevin Madden and Scott Williams were both solid but not really all that spectacular. In many ways it was a hodge podge of very good players that either needed another year to develop or simply did not click as a team. Basically, it was a transition year. UNC had avoided such seasons for almost a decade but the start of the 1990s was a bumpy one.
In the end, the most memorable part of this season was the NCAA Tournament 2nd Round upset of #1 Oklahoma. There was the incredible comeback against James Madison in Maui where the Heels trailed 79-70 with a minute left and Dean Smith having squirreled away all his timeouts orchestrated a 10-0 run to win the game. The Heels also beat Duke by 19 in Chapel Hill and 12 at Cameron which got them to 3rd in the ACC. However it was largely a forgettable season with the exception of one sweet Rick Fox drive down the baseline on St. Patrick’s Day.
Countdown So Far
#26. 2003
#27. 2002
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Lynch was a freshman, wasn’t he? It’s funny, this is considered a down year for UNC, but it is really the year I can say I started to bleed UNC b-ball. Partly because of age (10-11) and partly because I really like watching Lynch.
Also, I’m surprised Roy’s first year wasn’t here. Delicate balance of the hope of things to come versus a season that was, for the most part, maddeningly frustrating. Plus, the obvious fact that it is the last season on this list without 20 wins.
Part of the problem with 1990 squad was all of the off-the-court issues with Reid the year before. Who can forget the famous parking lot fight between Reid and Bucknall. It has always been widely rumored that Dean pulled a lot of strings to broker Reid’s departure to the NBA because he was tired of all the problems that he caused. He was basically a cancer on that squad and within the Carolina family. Ironically, with Reid’s exit we have Lynch’s entrance who turned out to be one of the best team leaders we’ve ever had possibly partially because of all the things he had seen already. This team was a great group of guys of whom I recall Dean saying they were a pleasure to coach.
My understanding was Dean talked the Hornets into taking Reid #4 in the 1989 draft and paved the way for him to leave early since the standing policy at the time was no one left early unless they were a high pick.
Meant to say all the things Lynch had heard about from the year before. Regardless, George Lynch was just a born leader in any respect.
Isn’t this the squad that started the season 4-4, one of those Ls being to ‘Bama? Also, it may just be my shaky memory, but I recall the second Duke game being in Cameron that year, where the “crazies” chanted “N-I-T” before the game and were rewarded for their good sportsmanship with a 87-75 beating. So, UNC won both games that year, yes?
Speaking of JRR, if you are looking for other blog topics for the slow time between Omaha and football, you could always do a top-10 list of players who (for whatever reason) helped the team be better/worse.
They did…I think I looked at the wrong column in the media guide and thought they lost the game at Cameron. Correct now as is the Lynch’s class.
Very mediocre year as far as Carolina is concerned, but the win over Oklahoma was fantastic. I was 13 at the time and that is still a vivid memory. Just too bad they followed that up with an absolute stinker against Arkansas.
Who might have been worse than King Rice??
That Oklahoma game was one of the best ever. It cost me my TV remote tho…… I think I went thru 2 or 3 remotes that year.
Interesting question. Rice actually posted some good assist numbers over 200 each season he started. He also tied Rick Fox for most steals on the team in 1990. Derrick Phelps was not nearly as effective an assist man but that could be in part to the fact George Lynch became a facilitator of the offense from the post. Here is a list of the starting PGs for UNC starting in 1982.
1982: Jimmy Black
1983: Steve Hale
1984: Hale/Kenny Smith
1985-87: Smith
1988-89: Jeff Lebo
1990-91: King Rice
1992-1994: Derrick Phelps
1995-1996: Jeff McInnis
1997-2000: Ed Cota
2001: Ronald Curry
2002: Adam Boone
2003-2005: Raymond Felton
2006: Bobby Frasor
2007-Present: Ty Lawson(with Quentin Thomas and Frasor mixed in)
The general feel looking at this list is King Rice was the least of these guys save the Doh years. Statistically, Frasor was not as good as Rice in terms of assists and Rice posted the best A/TO in UNC history in 1991. So perhaps my assertion was a bit out of school, but based on how I remember these guys Rice always was lower in my mind. Maybe it was that funky three point shot that he had.
Didn’t we go to the final four the next year? Or was it the year before?
Thanks
The year after.
Unfortunately, that JMU game is part of the reason why Roy still holds onto timeouts like they’re a precious metal, rather than using them to break momentum for the other team (see, Final Four 2008, Elite Eight 2007).
THF,
I believe Jimmy Braddock was the PG in 1983. He was serviceable at best but in all due respect, the lack of great PG that year left that team limited.
I do remember the Rick Fox drive and shot to defeat a great OU team.
Lynch was one of my favorite Tar Heels because he always worked so hard, much like Hansbrough. He was a relentless rebounder and a pretty good scorer around the rim, if I recall correctly. I watched him a number of times in the pros and he was always solid. J.R. Reid, both in college and the pros, was all about unfulfilled potential.
I do remember one game JR Reid had against Duke, and he defended Danny Ferry and he shut him down. I mean, shut him down!
Do you recall that game THF?
I think it was the 1989 ACC tournament that Reid was MVP, JB. We beat dook for the championship. If that wasn’t the game Ferry was shut down it was for sure the game dook was.
Ah! Fresh upon my return from the week-long sojourn into the great white north and…a countdown! Awesome.
The ‘90 squad emptied their tank against Oklahoma, THE team to beat in that region. That win almost negates the mediocre moments in that it allowed us (I was twelve at the time and sported a blue Tar Heel on my cheek for the game-while watching it on television in Hoosier country!)a few days of unabashed pride. It was like, “Yeah, we weren’t exactly great this year…but we just took down the #1 seed!” What a call at the end of the game. Davis was too nervous to take the shot, so Fox kept it and kissed it off the glass. That is one of the most significant shots in UNC basketball history in that it helped preserve both the 20-win streak and the streak of consecutive Sweet-Sixteen appearances…which ended with a talented, loaded, “paper champion” squad in 1994…oh dear, I had to mention them.