How Current Atlanta Hawks Looked in March Madness
By Dallin Duffy
Vince Carter
Vince Carter was a key aspect of three stacked UNC teams, and he shared a locker room with a total of six future NBA players during his three years in Chapel Hill. The latter two of those years, he led the Tar Heels to a #1 seed.
His freshman year had lesser results, with the team going 21-11 and earning a 6 seed. They defeated New Orleans in the first round but were beat handily by Texas Tech in the round of 32. Vince wasn’t particularly effective in either games.
As a sophomore, Vince helped UNC go 28-7 in Dean Smith’s final season as coach. They got the #1 seed in the East, making it to the Final Four pretty easily. Vince scored 22 in their first round beat down of #16 Fairfeld.
In the RCA Dome for the Final Four, they lost in the semi-finals to fellow future Hawks Mike Bibby and Jason Terry and the Arizona Wildcats. Carter poured in a team-high 21 points in the losing effort.
UNC was even better in Vince’s final year in college, with the team going 34-4, once again earning a #1 seed. They once again blew through the regional part of March, making it to the Final Four by beating every team by nine points or more. Vince scored 20-plus in two of the four wins.
Their season and Vince’s college career came to an end in the semi-final once again, losing to the Utah Utes 65-59. VC scored a game-high 21 points on 9-12 shooting.