Dean Of Coaching Works His Magic

There is no debating the numbers amassed over the years by North Carolina coach Dean Smith. There also is no end to the marvel they deserve.

In early January, when the Tar Heels were 0-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 9-4 overall, even the staunchest North Carolina fans had to admit there was some fear that three of the sport’s most impressive streaks may be coming to an end.

Six weeks later, an impressive turnaround built on improved defense and the matured play of freshman point guard Ed Cota has those three streaks intact and the Tar Heels back in the Top Ten and among the favorites as the NCAA Tournament approaches.

Wednesday night’s victory over Clemson was the Tar Heels’ 20th of the season, and it meant they have reached that number for 27 consecutive seasons, all under Smith. The next-best streak in NCAA history is UCLA’s 17-year run that ended in 1982-83, and the Bruins had five coaches in that time: John Wooden, Gene Bartow, Gary Cunningham, Larry Brown and Larry Farmer.

To put that run in perspective, if Fresno State wins one more game this season, Jerry Tarkanian will have 25 20-win seasons, second on the career list to Smith’s 30.

Duke’s victory over Maryland on Thursday night guaranteed the Tar Heels would finish no worse than third in the ACC this season, the 33rd straight year - all under Smith - that they have finished in the top three in what is usually among the two or three best leagues in the nation.

In that same time, all the schools in the ACC (with the exception of South Carolina, which left in 1971 and Florida State, which didn’t join until 1992) have finished last at least twice.

North Carolina also is guaranteed a berth in the NCAA tournament whether it be by winning the ACC tournament or as an at-large selection - the 23rd consecutive appearance for the Tar Heels. The second-best run is Georgetown’s streak from 1979-92, and the second-longest active streak is Arizona’s 12-year run.

Smith is six wins short of passing Adolph Rupp for the No. 1 spot on the career list at 877.

Conference 0s

Maybe all this parity stuff is true. The number of teams that go unbeaten or winless in conference play will drop considerably from last season.

The College of Charleston went 16-0 in the Trans America Athletic Conference and Princeton was 11-0 with three games to play, although the Tigers already had clinched the Ivy League title.

On the other end, Drake finished 0-18 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Brigham Young was 0-15 in the Western Athletic Conference with one game to play.

It was the first time Drake went winless in league play since 1917-18.

Last season there were four unbeatens - Wisconsin-Green Bay (Midwestern Collegiate), Kentucky (Southeastern), Davidson (Southern) and Texas Tech (Southwest) - and three winless teams - Eastern Washington (Big Sky), Akron (Mid-American) and Prairie View (Southwestern Athletic).

20-20

Georgia’s victory over Florida on Wednesday night gave the Bulldogs a 20-7 record. Coupled with last season’s 21-10 mark, it was the first time in the school’s 92-year history it managed consecutive 20-win seasons.

At the other end, Ohio State’s loss to Michigan State the same night doomed the Buckeyes to a fourth straight losing season, the first time that has happened in the school’s 98-year history.

Rough rebounds

St. John’s set a Big East record this week when it outrebounded Seton Hall 64-33 in the Red Storm’s 66-62 victory.

The biggest rebounding difference previously was also against Seton Hall, a 30-rebound advantage by Boston College earlier this season.

Dark gray

It’s hard not to feel sorry for California senior guard Ed Gray, who broke his foot in the final minute of the Bears’ victory over Washington State.

He played 25 minutes that night and had a school-record 48 points, the last two coming on the easy dunk on which he was hurt. He finished with a school-record 24.8 scoring average for the season and 20.0 for his career. He also set records with six 30-point games and 11 consecutive 20-point outings.

Other O’Bannon

Charles O’Bannon has always been known as “Ed O’Bannon’s little brother,” a label that became a standard introduction as the older brother led UCLA to the national championship in 1995.

Charles was a sophomore on that title team and he wanted to make sure people didn’t mix him up with his graduated brother. But last season ended with a crushing first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Princeton and his senior year began with a new coach and a bumpy start.

Around Christmas, the O’Bannon brothers and their father got together and Charles came out with the realization that it might not be so bad to be more like Ed.

“I spent all my year saying ‘I’m Ed’s younger brother but I’m not like Ed. Quit comparing me to Ed. We don’t play the same position, we don’t have the same attitude.’ “Then I realized, why do something opposite of something that’s right? Why not be the same leader, why not be as humble, not as flamboyant, do what got him there. Why not do that?”

The change has occurred at the same time the Bruins have returned to the top of the Pac-10 standings and back into the national Top Ten.

Salute Bucknell

Bucknell’s claim this season had been that the Bisons were the other team - besides North Carolina and Indiana - to beat Princeton.

Well, it seems they also have made history.

According to research by the school’s sports information office, Bucknell is the first school to beat all three Division I service academies in the same season.

The Bisons beat Air Force and split season series with fellow Patriot League members Navy and Army.