1961–62 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team
| 1961–62 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| 1961–62 record | 8–9 (7–7 ACC) |
| Head coach | Dean Smith |
| Assistant coach | Ken Rosemond |
| Home arena | Woollen Gymnasium |
The 1961–62 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team was Dean Smith's first as the head coach at North Carolina. The 1961–62 team finished with an 8–9 overall record, despite a young and inexperienced roster. They tied for fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 7–7 record. Their season ended with a first round loss in the ACC Tournament to South Carolina. This was Dean Smith's only losing season as a head coach at North Carolina.
At the conclusion of the 1960–61 season, North Carolina, hired Dean Smith to replace Frank McGuire as head coach. McGuire was North Carolina Men's Basketball Head Coach from 1953–1961, but was forced to resign by Chancellor William Aycock due to the program's placement on NCAA probation in 1960. Aycock, however, hired Smith, one of McGuire's assistants and who had been at North Carolina for two seasons already. Smith, who was only 30 at the time, was instructed by Aycock to run a clean program and represent the University well. Wins and losses were an afterthought to the Chancellor. However, in Smith's first season he was faced with a number of challenges, including a limited game schedule and the loss of two key players.
Prior to the start of the 1961 season, the ACC experienced a point shaving scandal. Four N.C. State players were accused of altering the score of several games and one UNC player was found to be involved with a gambler. As a result of this, the Dixie Classic was abolished and William Friday, the President of the University of North Carolina system, also de-emphasized basketball by allowing only sixteen regular season games. Therefore, Smith was limited to only two games against out of conference opponents. Smith kept the two most challenging opponents on the schedule, Notre Dame and Indiana, both games which would be played in North Carolina, one in Greensboro and the other in Charlotte, respectively.
The 1961–62 squad should have included Ken McComb and Yogi Poteet, both projected starters, but they were ruled academically ineligible before the season started. This was a big blow for the Tar Heels since they also had to withstand the lost of two All-Americans, Doug Moe and York Larese, to graduation. As a result, Smith's first team was young and inexperienced.
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