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North Carolina Basketball: Looking back at the 1997-98 season after 20 years

By John Woodcock

10 Oct 1997: Head coach Dean Smith of the North Carolina Tar Heels speaks to the press at the Dean Smith news conference in the Dean Smith Arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Smith announced his retirement from coaching. Mandatory Credit: Will Owens /Allsport
10 Oct 1997: Head coach Dean Smith of the North Carolina Tar Heels speaks to the press at the Dean Smith news conference in the Dean Smith Arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Smith announced his retirement from coaching. Mandatory Credit: Will Owens /Allsport /
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10 Oct 1997: Head coach Dean Smith of the North Carolina Tar Heels speaks to the press at the Dean Smith news conference in the Dean Smith Arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Smith announced his retirement from coaching. Mandatory Credit: Will Owens /Allsport /

North Carolina basketball is 20 years removed from one of its defining transitional seasons. Let’s look back at the 1997-98 season.

The 2017-18 season will be an important one for the North Carolina Tar Heels. It is the swansong of the freshmen class that gave us Joel Berry, Theo Pinson, and the already-departed Justin Jackson. That group went from a preseason trip to the Bahamas all the way to the national title and two of them are not done yet.

It will also be a year of new blood. The role players of the title team, new freshmen, and a transfer will put their stamp on this season as well if the Tar Heels are to maintain their recent success. It is a year of change, but it likely will not be as momentous a season as the Tar Heels had twenty years ago.

In 1997, the North Carolina Tar Heels had just come off another trip to the Final Four. During that run, Coach Dean Smith had surpassed Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp for the then coaching wins record with a victory over Colorado. The team lost Serge Zwikker, but they were returning every other significant piece to the team for the next season. Talented rising juniors Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter declined leaving for the NBA Draft to make the team a favorite in the ACC and NCAA Championship races.

Coming to replace Zwikker was signee Brendan Haywood. The freshman seven-footer was high on potential and had the size that was highly coveted in the late-90’s. All things seemed to be set on a season of promise.

Behind the scenes was a slightly different story, though. Coach Smith was worried about his own health and concerned about certain episodes the past year that suggested a lack of awareness. The succession was probably also on his mind. The cleanest transition seemed to be to hand the reins to long-time top assistant Bill Guthridge, but there was no guarantee that would happen on its own. The result of these two story lines was one of the most momentous seasons in Tar Heel history and one that would shape the team for years to come.

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