1957 NCAA University Division basketball championship game
Led by coach Frank McGuire and Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year Lennie Rosenbluth, the Tar Heels were ranked first overall in the AP Poll.
The Jayhawks, led by sophomore phenom and first-team All-American Wilt Chamberlain, were favored to win against the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels won the game 54–53 as Joe Quigg made two free throws in the closing seconds to give them their first NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship.
[5] Center Joe Quigg provided a solid presence in the paint (free throw lane) and grabbed almost nine rebounds per game.
[7] North Carolina won their quarterfinal match-up in the ACC tournament by twenty points to advance to the semifinals against Wake Forest.
[10][13] The Tar Heels defeated the Yale Bulldogs 90–74 in the NCAA East Regional Quarterfinal to advance to the semifinal against Canisius College.
[14] North Carolina won the game by twelve points allowing them to move on to the NCAA East Regional Final against the Syracuse Orange.
[16] Michigan State's Jack Quiggle made a half court shot that would have given the Spartans the lead, but it left his hands after time expired, nullifying the basket.
Carolina's Brennan gathered the rebound, dribbled down the court, and made a shot as time expired to send the game to a second overtime.
[15][16] Dick Harp was in the midst of his first season as head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks when the team entered the national championship game.
[9][18][19] At the beginning of the season, the Jayhawks starting line up consisted of seniors Gene Elstun, Maurice King, John Parker, Lew Johnson, and sophomore Chamberlain.
[22] The Jayhawks began the regular season with twelve consecutive victories before losing to the Iowa State Cyclones by two points having lost the lead in the closing seconds of the game.
[29][30] With a field goal percentage of almost 60 percent, the Jayhawks posted an 80–56 win to advance to the championship game against undefeated North Carolina, the number one-ranked team in the country.
[2][18] The national semifinal between Kansas and San Francisco was not televised,[4] while the North Carolina-Michigan State Spartans match-up was broadcast in some areas.
[4][36][37] After the Tar Heels won the Eastern Regional, Chesley managed to get announcers, sponsors and five stations to set up a network to broadcast North Carolina's Final Four games from Kansas City.
[53] After Kansas failed to convert a shot on their next possession, North Carolina proceeded to pass the ball around the perimeter of the court for close to two minutes.
[56][59] After Kansas scored the tying basket, North Carolina proceeded to hold the ball for one final shot before the overtime period ended.
[44][59] North Carolina's first possession of the second overtime period ended with a turnover, while Kansas missed a long jump shot in theirs.
[66] The Jayhawks' Loneski missed a contested, close layup, but King got the offensive rebound and was fouled on a put back shot.
[67] On the next possession, Kansas' John Parker stole the ball and crossed half court when coach Harp called a timeout.
[84][85] While coach McGuire and Rosenbluth boarded a plane to New York to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show,[86][87][88] the rest of the Tar Heels returned to North Carolina two days later where they landed at Raleigh–Durham International Airport (RDU).
[34] In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Tar Heel fans who had watched the game on television flooded Franklin Street after the victory over the Jayhawks.
[93] This has since turned into a tradition where people overrun Franklin Street following a Tar Heel win over the Duke Blue Devils or whenever they have won a National Championship.
[94] Chamberlain was criticized for his inability to lead Kansas to a win in the National Championship game;[81] He later admitted this loss was the most painful in his life.
[95] Chamberlain quickly became frustrated with the opposing teams' way of playing him, which consisted primarily of double- or triple-teaming him to limit his offensive production and effectiveness.
[95] After the Jayhawks failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament that year, Chamberlain decided to forgo his senior season to play with the Harlem Globetrotters.
[15] (In the 1990s, the players were given rings to commemorate their win in the national championship game at the insistence of then-North Carolina coach Dean Smith.
)[15] Coach McGuire was given a brand new Carolina blue and white Cadillac by the university and signed a new five-year contract worth $11,500 per year.
[92] After seeing the success of televising the tournament's final games, Castleman Chesley believed, "ACC basketball could be as popular as any TV show in North Carolina.
[34] It also led to Chesley and the Atlantic Coast Conference agreeing to a television contract whereby he would broadcast twelve ACC games league-wide during the 1957–58 season.
