1980–81 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

1980–81 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
1980–81 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
ACC Tournament Champions
NCAA Tournament, Runner-Up
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 6
1980–81 record	29–8 (10–4 ACC)
Head coach	Dean Smith (20th season);
Assistant coaches	Bill Guthridge (14th season); Eddie Fogler (10th season); Roy Williams (3rd season);
Home arena	Carmichael Auditorium
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

The 1980–81 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented University of North Carolina. Led by senior guard-forward Al Wood, it won the 1981 ACC Tournament and reached the championship of the NCAA Tournament, falling to Indiana University 62-50. The head coach was Dean Smith. The team played its home games at Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Roster[]

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	43	Jeb Barlow	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	Jr	Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
G	21	Jimmy Black	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	157 lb (71 kg)	Jr	Bronx, New York
G	24	Jim Braddock	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	So	Chattanooga, Tennessee
C	45	Chris Brust	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	218 lb (99 kg)	Jr	Babylon, New York
C	34	Pete Budko	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	226 lb (103 kg)	Sr	Lutherville, Maryland
F	44	Matt Doherty	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	Fr	East Meadow, New York
G	50	Cecil Exum	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	Fr	Dudley, North Carolina
F	32	Eric Kenny	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	216 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Asheville, North Carolina
C	51	Timo Makkonen	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	Fr	Lahti, Finland
G	11	Mike Pepper	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	Sr	Vienna, Virginia
C	41	Sam Perkins	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Fr	Latham, New York
G	33	Dean Shaffer	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Durham, North Carolina
F	30	Al Wood	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Gray, Georgia
F	52	James Worthy	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	224 lb (102 kg)	So	Gastonia, North Carolina

Head coach

Dean Smith (Kansas)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

^[1]

NCAA basketball tournament[]

West
- North Carolina 74, Pittsburgh 57
- North Carolina 61, Utah 56
- North Carolina 82, Kansas State 68
Final Four
- North Carolina 78, Virginia 65
- Indiana 63, North Carolina 50

^[2]

Awards and honors[]

Sam Perkins, ACC Rookie of the Year

Team players drafted into the NBA[]

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1981	1	4	Al Wood	Atlanta Hawks
1981	5	73	Pete Budko	Dallas Mavericks
1981	6	123	Mike Pepper	San Diego Clippers
1982	1	1	James Worthy	Los Angeles Lakers
1982	3	59	Jimmy Black	New Jersey Nets
1982	6	131	Chris Brust	Denver Nuggets
1982	7	153	Jeb Barlow	Denver Nuggets
1983	5	107	Jim Braddock	Denver Nuggets
1984	1	4	Sam Perkins	Dallas Mavericks
1984	6	118	Matt Doherty	Cleveland Cavaliers
1984	9	194	Cecil Exum	Denver Nuggets
1985	5	104	Dean Shaffer	Washington Bullets

^[3]

References[]

^ "1981 NCAA Final Four program". March 1981. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
^ "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2012-11-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1] "1981 NCAA Final Four program". March 1981. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)

[2] "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".

[3] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2012-11-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
Venues	Bynum Gymnasium (1910–1924) Tin Can (1924–1938) Woollen Gymnasium (1938–1965) Carmichael Auditorium (1965–1986) Dean Smith Center (1986–present)
Rivalries	Duke (Carlyle Cup) Kentucky NC State Wake Forest
Culture & lore	Rameses The Marching Tar Heels Junior varsity team Inside Carolina Four corners offense Dixie Classic/Big Four Tobacco Road Scandal
People	Head coaches Honorees Honored players NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1953–54 1954–55 1956–57 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics


v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 Virginia	13	–	1	.929	29	–	4	.879
No. 6 North Carolina †	10	–	4	.714	29	–	8	.784
No. 11 Wake Forest	9	–	5	.643	22	–	7	.759
No. 18 Maryland	8	–	6	.571	21	–	10	.677
Duke	6	–	8	.429	17	–	13	.567
Clemson	6	–	8	.429	20	–	11	.645
NC State	4	–	10	.286	14	–	13	.519
Georgia Tech	0	–	14	.000	4	–	23	.148

† 1981 ACC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll