UNC Basketball History Series - Vol Two Released November 2023
Author Ron Smith's research of over 30 years has uncovered interesting details and unique images. Many have never been published. This comprehensive series includes rare insights, interesting stories, rosters, schedules, results and stats for each season beginning with 1911. The story of the undefeated 1957 championship season is told with such exciting details you will feel like you were at the game.
Thousands of UNC fans know why they love Tar Heel Basketball. And now they can learn how the program became one of the most successful and respected in college basketball.
You will learn about the beginnings of the UNC Basketball program with interesting stories about key people and events that formed the foundation of this great program. Volume One covers every season from 1911 - 1961. Volume Two covers the first decade of the Dean Smith years, 1961-1969, Vol Three will cover the second decade of the Dean Smith years, 1970-79, Volume Four covers 1980-89 and Volume V covers 1990-99, Coach Smith's final years along with the contributions of his long time coach, Bill Guthridge. From there the series will cover the Roy Williams years, 2000-2019 and then 2020- ? covering the Hubert Davis years. This collectible will be a reference book that all Tar Heel fans will look to regularly to relive all seasons of Tar Heel Basketball.
Each page is 80lb durable paper. This is a coffee table quality, 9.75" x 12" hard cover book.
Volume One is available now and has 474 pages and over 1000 images.
Volume Two is available now and began shipping in November 2023. It has 320 pages and, like Volume One, over 500 images.
This is likely the most comprehensive history book series ever created for a sports program at any level. All Tar Heel fans will be proud to have a copy.
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The Tar Heels • A History of UNC Basketball • Volume One
The Perfect Gift For Any Tar Heel Fan
The Tar Heels - Volume I - was released in July 2021 and is the first of a multi-volume work by Ron Smith. Ron's research of over 30 years has uncovered details about the formation of UNC Basketball and every season beginning in 1911-1961.
Unique and fascinating stories are covered with 474 pages and more than 500 images.
What Tar Heel players say about the book
> Limited Quantities Available
Testimonials
Lennie Rosenbluth - UNC 1954-1957
After reading the book Lennie called us to say "This is the best book I've ever seen on UNC basketball, it's the Mona Lisa of Tar Heel basketball books."
Larry Brown - UNC 1960-1963
"I'm very happy to be a part of The Tar Heel book by Ron Smith. Everything I know about basketball I learned from Coach McGuire and Coach Smith. Because of their influence and guidance I was able to spend a lifetime coaching and teaching. And Roy is carrying on that tradition. I'm pleased to be a part of the Carolina family and The Tar Heel book is the best way I know to see how it all happened."
Phil Ford - UNC 1974-1978
"You have got to get this book if you are a North Carolina basketball fan. I’ve never seen a book with so many great never seen before pictures. I thought I knew all about the Carolina-Duke rivalry but now I know it goes back a lot longer than I thought. Lots of other great stories and detailed season by season recap are fantastic. It’s a must have."
Bob Lewis - UNC 1964-1967
"I have just about every book ever published on Carolina basketball and there is nothing like The Tar Heels. Ron has done an amazing job with the research, the writing and finding unique photos."
Bob Bennett - UNC 1963-1966
"I was privileged to be in Dean Smith's first recruiting class in 1962 and played for Coach Smith from 1963-1966. There have been many books written about UNC basketball, but, Ron Smith is creating a first. A seven-volume masterpiece featuring and celebrating all of the hundreds of players who proudly wore the blue and white. Volume One was released in 2021 and I read every page. Volume Two covers the years 1962-1969, the initial years of the Dean Smith era. Like Volume One, Volume Two is crammed full of never seen before photos, plus an unbelievable number of fascinating facts and statistics. It's a must for every Tar Heel fan."
Bob Young - UNC 1954-1957
"I’ve gotten immense enjoyment delving into the history of UNC BASKETBALL. The Tar Heels Volume I should be compulsory reading for every player who puts on a basketball uniform representing UNC."
Dave Hanners - UNC 1972-1976
"As a former player and coach at UNC I know a lot about Carolina basketball. But this book has things in it that I never knew before. If you think you have all the books ever written about basketball at UNC your collection isn’t complete without this one."
Dave Chadwick - UNC 1968-1971
"I’ve known Ron for over 40 years and his memory for Carolina basketball is amazing. I remember one of our first conversations. We talked about my senior year, the South Carolina games, the NIT championship. I think he remembered just about every game from that season. And that’s what the book is about: Great memories of Carolina basketball. I'm so grateful for all of Ron's hard work to walk us through a memory lane of UNC basketball. It's a trip many of us look forward to taking."
Sample Pages
Sample Page of the 1924 Season
Every season includes a team picture with every player named along with a team roster. This is a sample page of the 1924 Championship team.
Rare Images and Interesting Stories
Dean Smith with Bob Lewis and Larry Miller
Detailed bios of key players and key moments
Unique Never Seen Images - Rare Color Images From The 60's
About The Author - Ron Smith
Where It All Began - A Seed is Planted
Ron was born and raised in Charlotte. In February of 1966, Ron's dad took him to the North-South Doubleheader at the Charlotte Coliseum. It was there that Ron first met Coach Dean Smith. That meeting lead to a love and life-time devotion to Carolina Basketball.
Ron graduated from UNC in 1979 and has been a Carolina fan for 60 years. Ron’s passion, impeccable memory and appetite for all things Tar Heels led to an idea over 20 years ago to put together a book on the history of Carolina Basketball.
At that time, he realized that he had accumulated a significant amount of information, images, memories and friends that would be a great asset in creating such a book.
Since 2005, Ron has searched through university and public libraries across the country. Any city where UNC ever played a game was a target for his research. Through his extensive research and studying every boxscore back to the very beginning, Ron has uncovered every player who ever played in a game for the Tar Heels. Carolina Sports Communications now includes his research in its record book. He has uncovered unique photos and tracked down many of the photographers who took them. Many of these photographers had hundreds of never before published images. While there is an abundance of interesting material and stories about each season, the unique images are a highlight of the book.
