Although college basketball fans all over the country probably had never heard of Bill Guthridge, the Tar Heels knew exactly what they were doing when they named Guthridge head coach in October.
Guthridge always thought he and Smith would retire together, especially since Guthridge had been Smith's top assistant for 30 years. However, the head coaching position was something Guthridge could not turn down.
"I knew there was always a chance Coach Smith might quit, but I thought there was good chance he'd coach five or six more seasons too," Guthridge said early this season. "Then I thought it would be time for me to retire, too...Now that it's turned out this way, you know I want to do a good job for as longs as I can."
Having been an assistant at North Carolina for the past 30 years, he had been Smith's right hand man and had been responsible for the recruitment and evaluation of key high school players-most notably a lanky high school player from Wilmington, N.C. named Michael Jordan
Although the new UNC coach has plenty of experience, a question still lingered among college basketball pundits: Would the UNC team fall apart and be underachievers without their great coach behind the bench?
Guthridge has proven to the skeptics that he can indeed coach with the nation's best. For the 28th consecutive season the Tar Heels managed to win 21 games.
The Tar Heels established themselves as one of the nation's top teams early in the season, blowing out UCLA and narrowly defeating Purdue en route to winning the Great Alaska Shoot Out.
Even more impressive was the Tar Heels' dominance in ACC play, finishing a close second behind Duke, with a 27-3 overall record and No. 4 national ranking at the end the regular season. Additionally, the Tar Heels were able to pull off late game victories over Georgia, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest while splitting their two games with the Blue Devils.
While the winning ways have remained the same, some things have changed with the inception of the Guthridge era. Guthridge implemented the six man rotation, which includes Ed Cota, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Makhtar Ndiaye, Ademola Okulaja and Shammond Williams to ensure fairness for each of his "six starters".
This year's Tar Heel squad is a much more open and flashy one than the UNC teams of the past. Now permitted are no look and behind-the-back passes, half court alley-oop dunk attempts and late-game taunting- things that Smith never would have permitted.
However, Coach Guthridge has shown that he is in charge of the team. With Williams failing to adequately guard Virginia's Curtis Staples, Guthridge and Williams got into an argument on the sidelines over his poor play. Williams, UNC's second leading scorer, ended up only playing four minutes during the entire contest.
Despite the Tar Heels' continued success this season, Guthridge refuses to give himself any of the credit.
"I think it's too early to say [the program] hasn't missed a beat," Guthridge said in early February, when the Tar Heels were ranked No. 1. "Certainly, there is so much of coach Smith in me and in this team, and so much of what we're doing he was in on the planning of it."
Coach Smith definitely left the cupboard full for his long time assistant when he retired, knowing that replacing a legend as himself would be an almost impossible task. Smith wanted to ensure that the transition to the next coach would be a smooth one.
Juniors Jamison, Carter and Okulaja and sophomore Cota all returned as starters from last year. They help to lead a high flying squad that is one of the most well-polished fast-break offensive machines in the country
"When you watch North Carolina you see something special," Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins said. "Their passing is incredible. They've got something going. I think Bill has a lot to do with it. I think the players want to do well for Bill because he has been there for so long and they like him so much."
Although the coach is different, the only important thing remains the same: UNC is still among the nation's top squads and a favorite to advance and win the ACC tournament and advance deep into the NCAA Tournament.
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