University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina won its 500th game in the Smith Center on Jan. 10 over Wake Forest.
Photo by: DALTON T WAINSCOTT
Longtime Fans Reflect On 500 Smith Center Wins
January 19, 2026 | Men's Basketball
Five hundred wins.
That's how many times Carolina basketball has triumphed in the Dean E. Smith Center, a milestone reached on January 10 when the Tar Heels defeated Wake Forest, 84-78, on the strength of Henri Veesaar's and Caleb Wilson's 47 combined points.
On this night, nearly every seat was filled and the air seemed to hum with excitement – a mix of anticipation and joy that Carolina basketball fans have come to cherish.
Here, we look back on four unforgettable wins, memories shared by fans who witnessed nearly all of them; games that brought exhilaration and excitement to a place that has shaped Carolina basketball for generations. Four alumni whose contributions helped build the Smith Center in the early 1980s, and have attended nearly every one of the 600-plus games since.
First Win: Duke (January 18, 1986)
Years of fundraising made possible something never done before: the nation's first privately funded, on-campus arena.
Anticipation rippled far beyond Chapel Hill as the Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center prepared to open a new chapter. On January 18, 1986, it did so the best way Carolina basketball knows how—with a rivalry showdown, a Battle of the Blues between UNC and Duke.
"One of the most vivid memories I've got, oddly enough, of the first game was the traffic," Greg Cauley recalls. "There were tens of thousands of people showing up for the first event."
Cauley (UNC '76) remembers that long before tipoff, the magnitude of the moment was impossible to miss.
"There was a lot of anticipation and a lot of curiosity," he says. "It was just a madhouse trying to get through. Everybody that had never been to a game got to go."
When fans finally made it inside, the building revealed itself all at once. Carolina blue stretched in every direction, curving toward the hardwood below with the court resting at the center like a shared stage.
"Whenever you walk into the arena and see just that expanse of blue, it's really overwhelming," Cauley says. "If you ever get a chance to go in through the tunnel … it's just amazing when you're looking up and you see how large it is."
That sense of scale was matched by the moment itself.
"You had more than double the number of people that had ever seen a Carolina basketball game on campus," he said. "Playing Duke in the first game probably added a lot to that."
For those who witnessed it, the top-ranked Tar Heels' 95-92 win over No. 3 Duke wasn't just the first win in the Smith Center, it was the beginning of something larger—a foundation being laid, where anticipation would turn into electricity, belief into momentum and moments into history.
Best Comeback: The Comeback (January 27, 1993)
"People forget we were down 21 points to a really, really good Florida State team in the second half – and came all the way back to win it," John Bruce (UNC '75) remembers.
One year earlier, the Seminoles shocked the Tar Heels with an 86-74 defeat in the Smith Center in FSU's first-ever ACC game. Thirteen months later, the talented visitors from Tallahassee were looking to make it two in a row in Chapel Hill.
With the Tar Heels trailing by 19 points with under nine minutes to play, the Smith Center hovered between disbelief and hope. The scoreboard glowed like a verdict, the crowd holding its breath in the spaces between possessions. Waiting for something, anything, to break.
"People started leaving early, and Florida State fans were waving at us," Bruce said. "It was sweet to come back and get them."
At the time, it felt impossible, the game slipping away possession by possession.
Suddenly, everything shifted. UNC stormed back, outscoring the Seminoles, 28–4, to secure an improbable 82–77 win. George Lynch's half-court steal and dunk for the go-ahead basket remains one of the most memorable plays among the 500 wins. Thirty-three years later, it still stands as the largest second-half comeback in Carolina history.
For those inside the arena, it was more than a swing on the scoreboard. It was a shared jolt of belief.
"I've learned you never leave a game," Bruce said, "because Carolina magic can happen at any time."
The 1993 comeback, which helped catapult the Tar Heels to a national championship, became more than a remarkable rally. It became a lesson etched into the Smith Center itself: if time remains on the clock, anything is possible.
"That comeback was wonderful," Bruce added. "A classic Carolina comeback."
Loudest Win: Marvin's Game-Winner (March 6, 2005)
"The loudest I've ever heard it was the Senior Day game vs. Duke in 2005," Hayes Holderness (UNC '79) recalls.
Time seemed to stall that afternoon. Duke led by nine with 3:00 remaining as fans suspended between disbelief and hope, tension humming through every row of Carolina Blue.
That's when junior forward Sean May, who totaled 26 points and a staggering 24 rebounds in his final game in the Smith Center, imposed his will in the paint; muscling rebounds, forcing turnovers, dragging belief back one possession at a time.
Then came the moment that echoes still today. Marvin Williams gathered a loose ball in the paint, rose above the chaos, and banked home the game-winner that shook the building to its core.
When the ball dropped through the net, the arena seemed to lift off its foundation—sound crashing from every direction, bodies rising in unison, joy spilling through a blue sea of seats.
"That put us in the lead, and we avoided giving them a shot at the end," Holderness says. "That's the loudest and most exciting I've ever heard it in there."
"This was our national championship team," he added, recalling the broader stakes of the night. (A month later, Carolina went on to win its first of three NCAA titles under head coach Roy Williams).
Even now, years later, the feeling hasn't faded.
"I can still feel it," Holderness says.
Most Emotional Win: Hansbrough's Final Home Game (March 8, 2009)
"I think maybe the greatest, most emotional win was Tyler Hansbrough's senior game," Marvin Carver (UNC '75) reflects.
March 8, 2009. Senior Day was more than a game. It was a farewell, a celebration, a memory pressed throughout the Smith Center.
Tar Heel Nation gathered to honor the senior class of Tyler Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor, Danny Green, Marcus Ginyard and Mike Copeland, which became the winningest class in UNC history. Hansbrough, National Player of the Year in 2008, was on the verge of becoming the ACC's all-time leading scorer.
UNC beat the Blue Devils, 79–71, as the faithful cheered not just a victory, but players who had given everything.
"It was joy. It was just pure joy. People celebrating," Carver recalls.
In moments like that, the Smith Center feels less like an arena and more like a shared memory—thousands of voices moving as one, joy and gratitude hanging heavy in the air.
"He (Hansbrough) embodied what makes you proud to have a student-athlete at UNC, " says Carver.
"There have been a lot of players like that," Carver adds, pointing to names across generations, "RJ (Davis), Luke Maye, Marcus Paige. So many who love Carolina."
As the game ended and the cheers swelled, it wasn't just a win on the scoreboard; it was a night that filled the Smith Center with pride and gratitude.
"You know," Carver reflects, "there's nothing like it. Sometimes it almost brings you to tears."
Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge, Matt Doherty, Williams and Hubert Davis have led the Tar Heel program in the 41 seasons UNC has called the Smith Center home. Following win No. 500, Davis was asked which of the wins was his favorite.
"I couldn't tell you what game was number one, what was number 250, but I can tell you more than 500 memories I have here personally."
And that may be the clearest way to understand what 500 wins really means. The number by itself is a milestone, but what gives it weight are the moments layered beneath it—the rush of fans, those who stayed when logic said to leave, the roar that rattled the rafters, and the tears that flow when we say goodbye to those we have come to watch.
Wins blur together over time, but memories do not. They live in the people who return, season after season, feeling the same surge of belief when the game hangs in the balance.
500 wins tell a story of excellence. The people inside the Smith Center tell the story of Carolina.
That's how many times Carolina basketball has triumphed in the Dean E. Smith Center, a milestone reached on January 10 when the Tar Heels defeated Wake Forest, 84-78, on the strength of Henri Veesaar's and Caleb Wilson's 47 combined points.
On this night, nearly every seat was filled and the air seemed to hum with excitement – a mix of anticipation and joy that Carolina basketball fans have come to cherish.
Here, we look back on four unforgettable wins, memories shared by fans who witnessed nearly all of them; games that brought exhilaration and excitement to a place that has shaped Carolina basketball for generations. Four alumni whose contributions helped build the Smith Center in the early 1980s, and have attended nearly every one of the 600-plus games since.
First Win: Duke (January 18, 1986)
Years of fundraising made possible something never done before: the nation's first privately funded, on-campus arena.
Anticipation rippled far beyond Chapel Hill as the Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center prepared to open a new chapter. On January 18, 1986, it did so the best way Carolina basketball knows how—with a rivalry showdown, a Battle of the Blues between UNC and Duke.
"One of the most vivid memories I've got, oddly enough, of the first game was the traffic," Greg Cauley recalls. "There were tens of thousands of people showing up for the first event."
Cauley (UNC '76) remembers that long before tipoff, the magnitude of the moment was impossible to miss.
"There was a lot of anticipation and a lot of curiosity," he says. "It was just a madhouse trying to get through. Everybody that had never been to a game got to go."
When fans finally made it inside, the building revealed itself all at once. Carolina blue stretched in every direction, curving toward the hardwood below with the court resting at the center like a shared stage.
"Whenever you walk into the arena and see just that expanse of blue, it's really overwhelming," Cauley says. "If you ever get a chance to go in through the tunnel … it's just amazing when you're looking up and you see how large it is."
That sense of scale was matched by the moment itself.
"You had more than double the number of people that had ever seen a Carolina basketball game on campus," he said. "Playing Duke in the first game probably added a lot to that."
For those who witnessed it, the top-ranked Tar Heels' 95-92 win over No. 3 Duke wasn't just the first win in the Smith Center, it was the beginning of something larger—a foundation being laid, where anticipation would turn into electricity, belief into momentum and moments into history.
Best Comeback: The Comeback (January 27, 1993)
"People forget we were down 21 points to a really, really good Florida State team in the second half – and came all the way back to win it," John Bruce (UNC '75) remembers.
One year earlier, the Seminoles shocked the Tar Heels with an 86-74 defeat in the Smith Center in FSU's first-ever ACC game. Thirteen months later, the talented visitors from Tallahassee were looking to make it two in a row in Chapel Hill.
With the Tar Heels trailing by 19 points with under nine minutes to play, the Smith Center hovered between disbelief and hope. The scoreboard glowed like a verdict, the crowd holding its breath in the spaces between possessions. Waiting for something, anything, to break.
"People started leaving early, and Florida State fans were waving at us," Bruce said. "It was sweet to come back and get them."
At the time, it felt impossible, the game slipping away possession by possession.
Suddenly, everything shifted. UNC stormed back, outscoring the Seminoles, 28–4, to secure an improbable 82–77 win. George Lynch's half-court steal and dunk for the go-ahead basket remains one of the most memorable plays among the 500 wins. Thirty-three years later, it still stands as the largest second-half comeback in Carolina history.
For those inside the arena, it was more than a swing on the scoreboard. It was a shared jolt of belief.
"I've learned you never leave a game," Bruce said, "because Carolina magic can happen at any time."
The 1993 comeback, which helped catapult the Tar Heels to a national championship, became more than a remarkable rally. It became a lesson etched into the Smith Center itself: if time remains on the clock, anything is possible.
"That comeback was wonderful," Bruce added. "A classic Carolina comeback."
Loudest Win: Marvin's Game-Winner (March 6, 2005)
"The loudest I've ever heard it was the Senior Day game vs. Duke in 2005," Hayes Holderness (UNC '79) recalls.
Time seemed to stall that afternoon. Duke led by nine with 3:00 remaining as fans suspended between disbelief and hope, tension humming through every row of Carolina Blue.
That's when junior forward Sean May, who totaled 26 points and a staggering 24 rebounds in his final game in the Smith Center, imposed his will in the paint; muscling rebounds, forcing turnovers, dragging belief back one possession at a time.
Then came the moment that echoes still today. Marvin Williams gathered a loose ball in the paint, rose above the chaos, and banked home the game-winner that shook the building to its core.
When the ball dropped through the net, the arena seemed to lift off its foundation—sound crashing from every direction, bodies rising in unison, joy spilling through a blue sea of seats.
"That put us in the lead, and we avoided giving them a shot at the end," Holderness says. "That's the loudest and most exciting I've ever heard it in there."
"This was our national championship team," he added, recalling the broader stakes of the night. (A month later, Carolina went on to win its first of three NCAA titles under head coach Roy Williams).
Even now, years later, the feeling hasn't faded.
"I can still feel it," Holderness says.
Most Emotional Win: Hansbrough's Final Home Game (March 8, 2009)
"I think maybe the greatest, most emotional win was Tyler Hansbrough's senior game," Marvin Carver (UNC '75) reflects.
March 8, 2009. Senior Day was more than a game. It was a farewell, a celebration, a memory pressed throughout the Smith Center.
Tar Heel Nation gathered to honor the senior class of Tyler Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor, Danny Green, Marcus Ginyard and Mike Copeland, which became the winningest class in UNC history. Hansbrough, National Player of the Year in 2008, was on the verge of becoming the ACC's all-time leading scorer.
UNC beat the Blue Devils, 79–71, as the faithful cheered not just a victory, but players who had given everything.
"It was joy. It was just pure joy. People celebrating," Carver recalls.
In moments like that, the Smith Center feels less like an arena and more like a shared memory—thousands of voices moving as one, joy and gratitude hanging heavy in the air.
"He (Hansbrough) embodied what makes you proud to have a student-athlete at UNC, " says Carver.
"There have been a lot of players like that," Carver adds, pointing to names across generations, "RJ (Davis), Luke Maye, Marcus Paige. So many who love Carolina."
As the game ended and the cheers swelled, it wasn't just a win on the scoreboard; it was a night that filled the Smith Center with pride and gratitude.
"You know," Carver reflects, "there's nothing like it. Sometimes it almost brings you to tears."
Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge, Matt Doherty, Williams and Hubert Davis have led the Tar Heel program in the 41 seasons UNC has called the Smith Center home. Following win No. 500, Davis was asked which of the wins was his favorite.
"I couldn't tell you what game was number one, what was number 250, but I can tell you more than 500 memories I have here personally."
And that may be the clearest way to understand what 500 wins really means. The number by itself is a milestone, but what gives it weight are the moments layered beneath it—the rush of fans, those who stayed when logic said to leave, the roar that rattled the rafters, and the tears that flow when we say goodbye to those we have come to watch.
Wins blur together over time, but memories do not. They live in the people who return, season after season, feeling the same surge of belief when the game hangs in the balance.
500 wins tell a story of excellence. The people inside the Smith Center tell the story of Carolina.
Players Mentioned
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