It had been more than a decade since North Carolina ended a season on a sweet note. The exit of Dean Smith and the subsequent struggles eventually led to that 8-20 rock bottom in 2002.
Roy Williams, too, had been stymied in his pursuits of the promised land, as four close calls in the Final Four produced no championships for his Kansas program.
But two short years after Williams returned to UNC, his spark would combine forces with the Tar Heels’ reinvorgated spirit to turn the program around.
When North Carolina beat Illinois 75-70 on April 4, 2005, in St. Louis, Mo., Williams solidified his legacy as a head coach and the Tar Heels catapulted back into the upper echelon of college basketball programs.
Most Outstanding Player Sean May scored 26 points in the title game, and the Tar Heels did not allow a basket in the final two and a half minutes.
The championship team also included Marvin Williams, Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants, all of whom would join May in the first round of the NBA Draft.
Their season didn’t start out quite as smoothly as it ended up, though. UNC entered with a No. 3 preseason national ranking, its highest in seven years, only to be upset by Santa Clara in the first game.
The Tar Heels went on to win 14 in a row and finish the regular season 26-3 after Williams’ dramatic tip-in in the season finale against Duke. They were regular season ACC champions for the first time since 1993 — also the last year they won the national championship.
North Carolina started its tournament run with blowouts against Oakland and Iowa State, followed closely by a narrow 67-66 win against Villanova in the Sweet 16.
The Tar Heels went on to beat Wisconsin by six and Michigan State by 16 before reaching the finals.
Just three years removed from 8-20, North Carolina was sitting back on top of the college basketball world.
And after receiving criticism for his decision to leave the Jayhawks and return to his alma mater, Roy Williams had reached that final summit.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu
2005 recap: Williams has ?rst trip to the pinnacle
DTH/Laura Morton - The team receives their trophy for the NCAA title.
