1982 North Carolina Basketball Gets Dean His First Ring

Though UNC was the #1 team in the nation, the Hoyas were the hot team, playing stifling defense. None of their tournament opponents had scored more than 50 points and they were anchored in the middle by freshman center Patrick Ewing, shotblocker extraordinaire. The close friendship of Smith and Georgetown coach John Thompson was a big part of the storyline and it was a superb championship game matchup for CBS in its first year of televising the tournament, a run that has gone on uninterrupted to this day.