As the University of North Carolina Tar Heels look to add a seventh National Championship to their trophy case in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, we look back at one of their most iconic title wins.
Forty years ago to this day, a freshman by the name of Mike Jordan announced himself to the world, hitting the game-winning jumper against Georgetown, kick-starting a legendary career.
When a fresh-faced Jordan arrived on North Carolina's campus joining the established duo of James Worthy and Sam Perkins, the Tar Heels were on a mission to win their second national championship and their first under Hall of Fame head coach Dean Smith.
Facing Patrick Ewing and Georgetown in the championship game, Jordan wrote the first chapter in his iconic career, doing what we've seen him do many times since.
Legendary coach Roy Williams, who led the Tar Heels to three national championships as a head coach, spent 10 years there as an assistant, helping lead Jordan and the Tar Heels to victory. Williams sat down with The Sporting News to relive the moment.
"That entire season I thought we were the best team. I just thought we were the best team and we were going to win the national championship," Williams said.
"Coach Smith was going to get his first. I always thought it was stupid people that would say, 'well, he's good, but he's never won the big one,' because there's a lot of great coaches that don't, so for me it was a mission to shut people up and it was a mission to win the championship.
"During the game, I never thought we were going to lose the game. [Leading] up to the game, I never thought [we were going to lose]. We were the best team and so by golly we're gonna win it."
Williams' confidence never wavered until the team went to the huddle with 32 seconds to go in the championship game, trailing by a point and at that moment, Coach Smith implored his players that this is "exactly where we want to be."
"We're going to determine the outcome of this game," he said in the huddle.
As Smith drew up the play for Perkins and Worthy to screen and look for the lob, he turned to a 19-year-old Jordan and told him to be ready.
"I remember as we were leaving the huddle, I was standing right beside Coach Smith and he patted Michael on the back and he said 'if you get it, knock it in Michael,'" Williams recalled.
Sure enough, the play broke down and the ball found Jordan on the left baseline and without hesitation, he rose up to drill the jumper to put UNC up 63-62 with 15 seconds to go.
On the next possession, Georgetown turned the ball over with Worthy coming up with the steal, bringing coach Smith's words to life and sealing the 1982 title.
Jordan was named to the All-Tournament team for his heroics in an era where freshmen rarely had the impact we see today. In the championship game, he finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, two steals, two assists and one legendary shot.
"Michael Jordan was confident. Michael Jordan was going to show everybody that he was the best and that was the biggest moment in Michael's career," Williams added.
"That was the single most important moment in my entire coaching life. It's how the power of a coach, that if his players believe in him and he reads what their feelings are, and tells them the right thing, it can make a difference.
"I still have cold chills every time because it was the most poignant moment for me in my coaching career."
Jordan was named Rookie of the Year in 1982 and went on to win the John R. Wooden Award and Naismith College Player of the Year in 1983-84 before leaving school to enter the 1984 NBA Draft, but his shot against Georgetown will always be remembered as the day Mike became Michael.
"That shot showed him that he could even do bigger things. That he could stand for the moment and for the rest of his life he looked for that moment. He looked to be the guy that takes the last shot," Williams said.
"He got better and better and better. He got bigger, he got stronger, he got quicker and that shot gave him the confidence. He told me one time he said, 'you will never see anybody outwork me,' and I never did."
Jordan's legacy at the University of North Carolina extends far beyond his heroics on the court, serving as an inspiration for future generations of hoopers in the program as the best to ever do it.
"I told my players for years, Michael Jordan was the only guy I'd ever seen that could turn it on and turn it off and he never frickin' turned it off. Whether he's playing me or you or anybody that's any good, he was still going to try to kill you," Williams said.
"His mental attitude, his focus, his desire, his competitiveness. Nobody's ever had that. Everything.
"I mean God blessed him with those great gifts, but he had the heart and the brain too and the viciousness that you need to be the best.
"In my mind, I don't care what anybody says, he's not only the GOAT, it's even if there's a level above that, that's who he is."
