On March 21, 1946, under Hall of Fame coach Ben Carnevale and All-Americans Hook Dillon and Jim Jordan, North Carolina beat NYU, 57–49, for their first win in the NCAA Tournament ever.

[15] For most of the first four decades of the program's history, North Carolina had very little consistency at the head coaching position, reflecting the lack of emphasis on the sport in much of the South at the time.

The modern era of Tar Heel basketball began in 1952, when Scott was pushed out after two consecutive losing seasons in favor of St. John's head coach Frank McGuire.

Later, in the 1967 NCAA University Division basketball tournament, UNC beat Boston College to advance to Dean Smith's first Final Four, where they would lose to Dayton in the national semifinal.

On March 15, 1969, All-American Charlie Scott hit the game-winning jumper at the buzzer to beat Davidson, 87–85, to advance North Carolina to their third consecutive Final Four.

All-American Bob McAdoo had 24 points and 15 rebounds, but fouled out with 13 minutes to play, as UNC lost to Florida State in the national semifinal.

On February 25, 1978, co-consensus National Player of the Year Phil Ford scored 34 points in his final game at Carmichael Auditorium, an 87–83 win over Duke.

On March 29, 1982, Final Four MOP James Worthy scored 28 points and Michael Jordan hit the game-winning shot with 17 seconds to play as Carolina beat Georgetown, 63–62, to win Dean Smith's first national championship.

On April 5, 1993, Final Four MOP Donald Williams scored 25 points as Carolina beat Michigan, 77–71, for Dean Smith's second NCAA championship.

On March 15, 1997, North Carolina beat Colorado, 73–56, in the NCAA tournament second round for Dean Smith's 877th win, breaking Adolph Rupp's all-time record for coaches.

[32] While at North Carolina, Smith helped promote desegregation by recruiting the university's first African American scholarship basketball player, Charlie Scott.

[35] Guthridge retired in 2000 and North Carolina turned to Matt Doherty, the head coach at Notre Dame and a player on the 1982 championship team, to lead the Tar Heels.

Despite the turnaround from the year before and the NIT appearance, at the end of the season Matt Doherty was replaced as head coach by Roy Williams.

The term was started by one of the players, Stewart Cooper, in hopes that it would be a replacement for "walk-ons" and similar names, and soon enough Roy Williams caught on.

[44] The 2011–2012 Tar Heels season started on November 11, 2011, as top-ranked Carolina beat Michigan State, 67–55, on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in San Diego.

[46] Marshall did not play in UNC's two following games in the NCAA Tournament, a 73–65 overtime win over Ohio in the Sweet 16 and the aforementioned 80–67 loss to Kansas in the Elite Eight.

It was also the year that North Carolina would add Joel Berry II and Justin Jackson to the roster, who were both key contributors to the 2017 National Championship squad.

6 in the AP preseason poll, having lost Paige and Johnson but retaining 2016 ACC Tournament MVP Joel Berry II as well as forwards Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks.

On March 26, 2017, Luke Maye hit a jump shot with 0.3 seconds left to beat second-seed Kentucky, 75–73, to advance to Carolina's record 20th Final Four.

Forwards Isaiah Hicks, Kennedy Meeks, Tony Bradley,[50] and Justin Jackson had left, while the team added Cameron Johnson.

In the 2018–19 season, the Tar Heels were led by freshman point guard Coby White, and seniors Luke Maye and Cameron Johnson.

The Tar Heels were co-ACC regular season champions with Virginia, earned another Number 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and made it to the Sweet Sixteen round before being eliminated by the Auburn Tigers.

Freshman point guard Cole Anthony's knee injury and a lack of depth on the bench proved devastating for the Tar Heels, as they were unable to carry momentum through ACC play, losing several games on last second shots after starting the season 6–1.

Four days after Williams retired, assistant coach and former Tar Heel player Hubert Davis was hired as his successor.

[54] After an up-and-down start to the regular season that included some blowout losses, Davis' Tar Heels turned a corner in the latter part of ACC conference play.

The team coupled the renewed energy and intensity with a shock 94–81 upset victory over Duke in Mike Krzyzewski's final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Tar Heels defeated UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen and Saint Peter's in the Elite Eight to earn a trip to the 2022 Final Four in New Orleans.

The changes in personnel definitely helped as the Tar Heels finished the regular season 25-6 and atop the ACC standings at 17-3 for their 33rd conference title in school history.

[69] 51 former North Carolina men's basketball players are honored in the Smith Center with banners representing their numbers hung from the rafters.

squads, North Carolina's athletic department opted to keep the team so that non-scholarship students were given the chance to play basketball for UNC.