University of North Carolina Athletics
2014-15 Season Review
May 6, 2015 | Men's Basketball
North Carolina went 26-12 overall in 2014-15 (11-7 in the ACC), reaching the championship game of the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, and posted the 35th 25-win season in school history.
PAIGE NAMED TEAM MVP FOR SECOND SEASON IN A ROW
Guard Marcus Paige earned his second consecutive Dean Smith Most Valuable Player Award and was named co-captain for the second time in as many years at the team's 2015 awards ceremony, held after the season.
Paige is the 17th player to win UNC's Most Valuable Player award at least twice and just the sixth to earn MVP accolades as a sophomore and junior (with Lennie Rosenbluth, Billy Cunningham, Michael Jordan, Antawn Jamison and Tyler Hansbrough).
Paige scored a team-high 14.1 points per game and topped the team with 94 three-point field goals, 170 assists and 65 steals. The Marion, Iowa, native also was the team's most outstanding defensive player and top scholar-athlete. Earlier this year, Paige received the Skip Prosser Award as the ACC's Top Scholar-Athlete and was named for the second straight year as a second-team Academic All-America.
Paige is the fourth Tar Heel in the last 47 years to earn defensive player of the year honors three times with Derrick Phelps, Brendan Haywood and Marcus Ginyard.
Forward Desmond Hubert shared co-captain honors with Paige and was one of four seniors honored at the ceremony with Jackson Simmons, Luke Davis and Sasha Seymore. Simmons won the Carolina Way award for the second time.
Junior forward Joel James and sophomore forward Isaiah Hicks were the team's most improved players.
Statistical winners included Paige (scoring, assists, three-point percentage), Nate Britt (free throw percentage), Brice Johnson (field goal percentage) and Kennedy Meeks (blocks).
POSTSEASON ANKLE SURGERY FOR PAIGE
Marcus Paige underwent successful arthroscopic surgery in late April 2015 to remove bone spurs in his right ankle. At the time of the surgery, Paige was expected to resume basketball activities during the summer.
Dr. Robert Anderson performed the surgery at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
POSTSEASON FOOT SURGERY FOR PINSON
Theo Pinson underwent successful surgery on his left foot on May 4 at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. Dr. Robert Anderson performed the surgery. Pinson suffered a fracture of his left fifth metatarsal in UNC's game at Wake Forest on January 21st. He missed the next 10 games and 14 of the last 19.
Pinson averaged 2.8 points and 3.0 rebounds and had 37 assists in 24 games overall.
UNC athletics trainer Doug Halverson said he expects Pinson to be ready to participate in basketball activities in time for the start of the 2015-16 season.
15TH & 12TH IN FINAL POLLS
Carolina finished No. 12 in the final ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, released after the conclusion of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels had been No. 14 in the coaches poll released in mid-March, between the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA Tournaments.
The Tar Heels were ranked No. 15 in the final Associated Press poll of the season. The AP releases its final poll prior to the NCAA Tournament.
UNC finished ninth nationally in the NCAA's final RPI rankings, moving up from 11th in the previous rankings.
TOKOTO DECLARES FOR NBA DRAFT
Junior forward J.P. Tokoto announced in mid-April his intention to enter the 2015 NBA Draft.
Tokoto averaged 6.7 points and 4.4 rebounds and compiled 292 assists, 36 blocked shots and 128 steals in 107 games in his three years as a Tar Heel. As a junior, he ranked sixth in the ACC in assists, eighth in assist-turnover ratio (1.9) and ninth in steals. He was the only forward to rank among the top 10 in the ACC in assists.
The Menomonee Falls, Wis., native led or shared the team lead in assists in 20 games in 2014-15 and scored in double figures 15 times with a high of 19 against East Carolina. He was one of four players ranked in the top 10 in the ACC in both assists and steals.
ANOTHER SWEET 16
Carolina made a record 32nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament round of 16 and its 26th official Sweet 16 appearance.
The NCAA record book lists Sweet 16 appearances only since 1975 (when all teams have needed to win at least one game to reach the regional semis). Carolina has advanced to the Sweet 16 an NCAA-record 26 times since 1975. Kentucky and Duke are second with 24.
UNC has reached the Sweet 16 in 24 of its last 32 NCAA Tournament appearances.
In the last 32 years, the years in which UNC made the NCAA field but did not reach the Sweet 16 were 1994 (lost to Boston College in the second round), 1996 (lost to Texas Tech in the second round), 1999 (lost to Weber State in the first round), 2001 (lost to Penn State in the second round), 2004 (lost to Texas in the second round), 2006 (lost to George Mason in the second round), 2013 (lost to Kansas in the third round) and 2014 (lost to Iowa State in the third round).
Roy Williams has taken 16 teams to the Sweet 16 in 25 NCAA Tournament appearances as a head coach.
WILLIAMS GETS WIN #750
With the win over Arkansas in the NCAA third round, Roy Williams became the 15th head coach in NCAA Division I history to win 750 games.
Williams is the fourth active Division I head coach to win 750 games, joining Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, Jim Boeheim of Syracuse and Bob Huggins of West Virginia.
Williams' 750 wins rank 15th in NCAA history. Henry Iba is 14th with 759.
Williams is 750-202 overall (.788) and 332-101 as Carolina's head coach.
WILLIAMS LEADS IN WINS PER SEASON
Roy Williams has won 27.8 games per season in 27 years as a head coach, the highest average per season among active head coaches with 500 wins and every coach in NCAA history with 700 career wins.
WILLIAMS IS THE 2ND-WINNINGEST COACH AT CAROLINA & KANSAS
Roy Williams has the second-most wins among head coaches at two of the most storied programs in college hoops history.
Williams has won 332 wins as North Carolina's head coach, second in school history behind Dean Smith's 879.
Williams also is second in Kansas history with 418 victories (trailing Phog Allen's 590).
WILLIAMS AMONG ACTIVE COACHES
Roy Williams is fourth among active NCAA Division I coaches with 750 wins:
Most Wins, Active Coaches
1,018 Mike Krzyzewski Duke
966 Jim Boeheim Syracuse
765 Bob Huggins West Virginia
750 Roy Williams North Carolina
740 Bo Ryan Wisconsin
(through 2014-15 season)
Williams' winning percentage of .788 is second-highest among active NCAA head coaches, trailing only Mark Few of Gonzaga, who has 15 years head coaching experience. Williams leads all active coaches with at least 20 years as a head coach.
Among the NCAA's all-time leaders, Williams ranks sixth in winning percentage.
WILLIAMS CLIMBING THE ACC WIN CHARTS
Roy Williams has 159 career wins in ACC regular season and ACC Tournament games, good for fifth in conference history. Frank McGuire of North Carolina and South Carolina ranks fourth with 160.
Williams' 332 overall wins as an ACC coach are sixth in league history (Lefty Driesell of Maryland is fifth with 348).
TAR HEEL TIDBITS & TRENDS
North Carolina has completed its 105th season as a varsity basketball program and is third in NCAA history in wins with 2,140 (trailing only Kentucky and Kansas).
Carolina played 22 of its 37 games in 2014-15 against NCAA Tournament teams and went 11-11 in those 22 games.
Marcus Paige finished the season with 94 three-point field goals, second-most in UNC single-season history, one behind Shammond Williams' 95 in 1996-97.
Paige has made 225 career three-pointers and is third in UNC history behind Shammond Williams (233) and Wayne Ellington (229). Only Ellington made more in three seasons.
Paige has attempted 590 three-pointers in his career. That is more than any other Tar Heel. Shammond Williams was the previous record-holder with 578.
Paige is 275 for 318 from the free throw line in his career. His percentage of .865 is the highest in Carolina history and the sixth-best in ACC history. Shammond Williams is second in UNC history at .849.
Paige went 96 for 111 from the free throw line in 2014-15, a percentage of .865 that is the seventh-best single-season mark in UNC history for players with at least 75 makes (he shot the third-best percentage, .877, in 2013-14). He is the only Tar Heel in history to post two of the top 10 best seasons in free throw percentages.
Justin Jackson made two three-pointers three times in UNC's first 27 games and at least two 3FGs in six of the last 11 contests. He scored in double figures 22 times, including 11 of the last 12 games of the year and six of seven in the postseason. He shot .521 from the floor and .447 from thee-point range in the final 12 contests.
Nate Britt is 114 for 136 in his career from the free throw line, a percentage of .838 that is sixth-best in UNC history for players with at least 100 made free throws.
As a freshman, Britt shot 3 for 12 from three-point range (.250). As a sophomore, he shot 26 for 71 (.366) from three-point territory.
Freshman Joel Berry II scored 60 points in the final nine games of the season (6.7 per game), including averaging 6.5 ppg in the ACC Tournament and 6.3 ppg in the NCAA Tournament.
UNC finished the season with 814 free throw attempts and its opponents attempted 843. This is just the third season UNC has attempted fewer free throws than its opponents (also in 1953-54 and 2001-02). The 843 free throw attempts are the most by UNC opponents since 1972 (853).
UNC went 7-8 against ranked teams in 2014-15 (wins over Florida, UCLA, Ohio State, Virginia Louisville twice and Arkansas and losses to Wisconsin, Kentucky, Louisville, Virginia and to Notre Dame and Duke twice each).
UNC went 22-5 in 2014-15 when leading at halftime but 2-7 when trailing at the half (and 2-0 when tied at the break). Carolina is 271-31 all-time under Roy Williams when leading at the half.
Carolina was 13-2 in 2014-15 and is 213-27 all-time under Williams when scoring 80 or more points.
The Tar Heels went 23-7 in 2014-15 and is 275-47 all-time under Williams when they out-rebound their opponents.
UNC is 154-2 in 12 seasons under Roy Williams when it shoots 50.0 percent or better from the floor as a team. The two losses came in 2014 to Duke and in the 2015 ACC Tournament final against Notre Dame.
Brice Johnson scored his 1,000th career point in the ACC final loss to Notre Dame, becoming the 72nd Tar Heel to score 1,000 (most in NCAA history).
Johnson led Carolina in field goal percentage (.566), made field goals (207) and rebounding (7.8 per game) and was second in scoring (12.9 ppg) and blocked shots (42) in 2014-15.
Kennedy Meeks scored in double figures 22 times in 2014-15, posted eight double-doubles and had 10 double-digit rebounding games overall.
Isaiah Hicks was UNC's co-most improved player (along with Joel James) after being the team's sixth-leading scorer (tops off the bench) at 6.6 points per game. He was third on the team in field goal percentage (.544).
Paige battled a case of plantar fasciitis for much of the season but did not miss any games in 2014-15. He led Carolina players with 33.2 minutes per game (over four more than the next-highest player).
The Tar Heels held 23 opponents to 40 percent or lower field goal shooting in 2014-15 and went 19-4 in those games.
UNC has scored 100 or more points 49 times in Williams' 12 seasons as head coach. The Tar Heels are 48-1 in those games.
Carolina had won six consecutive overtime games before losing two in a row in 2014-15 at Louisville and at Duke. Carolina has won nine of its last 13 overtime games and are 9-9 in OT under Roy Williams.
A pair of former Tar Heels signed on with NBA teams in 2015. James Michael McAdoo, who had been playing with Santa Cruz in the NBDL, signed with Golden State for the rest of the season. Larry Drew II, who played at Carolina from 2008-11 before transferring to UCLA, signed a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 16. Drew had been playing with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the D-League.
There were 19 former Carolina players in the NBA in 2014-15.
Spenser Dalton made UNC varsity debut after moving up from the JV team a week earlier. Dalton, a 6-3 junior guard from Asheville, had been in his second year with the Tar Heel junior varsity team earlier in 2014-15.
