The Best Game Ever: How Frank McGuire's '57 Tar Heels Beat Wilt and Revolutionized College Basketball [Hardcover]

Adam Lucas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2006

A legendary coach and five New York City players move south and change the face of college basketball forever.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The 1956-57 North Carolina Tar Heels started the season as a group of basketball transplants at a football school. They ended the season as one of the most famous teams in college basketball history.

Frank McGuire assembled a team cut in his own image - they were brash, they were talented, and they were of course, from New York. McGuire believed he could relate more closely to New York players, so he established the famed Underground Railroad from New York City to Chapel Hill. He believed the talent he recruited would pay dividends with a possible championship run during the 1958 season; instead, they made their magical run one season ahead of schedule.

The team of swaggering Tar Heels played just eight games at home during the 1956-57 season. But it didn't seem to matter, as they went on the road and won a series of heart-pounding games. Five points at NYU. A double-overtime win at Maryland. Five points at Wake Forest. A two-point scrape against the Deacons in the ACC Tournament.

Throughout the miraculous run, the players maintained an impossible air of calm, always punctuated by All-America Lennie Rosenbluth announcing in the post-game locker room how many games were left in the undefeated season.

Before his prediction could come to fruition, the Tar Heels had to survive the most intense Final Four ever. Carolina needed triple overtime against Michigan State and triple overtime against the legendary Wilt Chamberlain's Kansas squad.

That game was The Best Game Ever. And they might have been the best team ever.

About the Author

Author Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly, the nation’s most widely read magazine devoted to University of North Carolina athletics. He is a past winner of the North Carolina Sports Columnist of the Year Award, and the featured columnist on TarHeelBlue.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; 1 edition (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592289827
• ISBN-13: 978-1592289820
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #865,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Adam Lucas grew up dreaming of becoming a Carolina basketball player. A severe lack of height and talent curtailed that dream, but he discovered another way to get as close as possible to the Tar Heels--writing about Carolina sports. Since 2001, he has been the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and a featured columnist on the official athletic department website, TarHeelBlue.com. He has authored or co-authored six books on Carolina Basketball. Adam lives in Chapel Hill with his wife and two children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This should settle the arguments!, May 6, 2007

By 

John S. Clayton Sr. (Rockville, MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best Game Ever: How Frank McGuire's '57 Tar Heels Beat Wilt and Revolutionized College Basketball (Hardcover)

It's really two games. I invited neighbors over to watch on my new TV. Most were NOT big basketball games. We were playing Michigan State. We had professors pounding on the floor and yelling. One woman couldn't stand the three overtime tension any more and locked herself in the bathroom. When a close friend who had been out of town returned home, I said, "You missed the greatest game ever." But then we had to play Kansas and Wilt Chamberlin. Coach put his shortest player on the floor to tip-off against Wilt. The crowd roared with laughter. Psyched Wilt out of his socks. The game went to triple overtime. I always said the team ("four Irishmen and a Jew") was made up of Drama Majors. Every game in their undefeated season was a cliff hanger. This book captures the whole story, the undefeated season, the finals, the whole nine yards. Don't miss it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasant Trip Down Memory Lane/Tobacco Road., April 11, 2008

By 

Mcgivern Owen L (NY, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best Game Ever: How Frank McGuire's '57 Tar Heels Beat Wilt and Revolutionized College Basketball (Hardcover)

"The Best Game Ever" is about the 1956-57 University of North Carolina basketball team. All 5 starters and the coach, Queens own Frank McGuire, were New York City guys-"5 Irishmen and a Jew", as the coach termed it. McGuire is the principal character here as the Tar Heels sprint to a perfect 30-0 season and the NCAA championship. The spotlight is on the '57 tournament, in which Carolina won triple overtime victories on successive night to take the college crown. Those victories came against Michigan State in the semi and the University of Kansas in the final. There is virtual play by play commentary on the Kansas game as McGuire and rival coach Dick Harp match strategies. One wonders why the Jayhawks failed to make more use of 7-1 center Wilt Chamberlain or why they let the Tar Heels back in the game by slowing the pace late in the contest. This reviewer would have appreciated a fuller epilogue: What happened to these Tar Heels, especially the colorful McGuire? Chamberlain was so distraught by the loss that he dropped out of school, not to return to the UK campus for over 40 years. There are some factual glitches: Niagara University is located in Niagara Falls, not Buffalo and the old St. Ann's Academy was run by religious brothers, not priests. Also, what "back entrances" of the old Madison Square Garden did kids sneak in? This reviewer -and all his buddies-would have loved to known about that one! Despite the nitpicking, BGE is highly recommended. It is just what it purported itself to be, a straightforward sports story of a specific and special time in college basketball. A solid 4 stars is an appropriate rating but the faithful will wish to add back that 5th Carolina blue and white star.

3.0 out of 5 stars Mostly for Tar Heel backers, but fine, December 17, 2011

By 

WDX2BB (New York State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best Game Ever: How Frank McGuire's '57 Tar Heels Beat Wilt and Revolutionized College Basketball (Hardcover)

If you look at the last several reviews here, you might notice a coincidental theme. There are a lot of books out there with titles that are the Greatest Game Ever, or The Best Game Ever, or the Most Fabulous Game in History.

In the case of this book, "The Best Game Ever.", and note the period at the end, you probably could make a case for "The Greatest Weekend of Basketball by one team ever." That's what Adam Lucas' story of the 1957 North Carolina basketball team essentially focuses, although the Tar Heels' entire season is covered in interesting detail here.

This seems like an appropriate title to read after a North Carolina basketball championship, which happens every so often, but the Tar Heels weren't always so good. Frank McGuire jumped from St. John's to UNC to guide the team in the 1950's, and he brought with him several players from New York City. The most interesting part of the book is the tale about what college basketball was like in the Fifties in terms of recruiting, etc. The players who were interviewed for the book were all quite forthcoming about what life was like for a New York City player to come to the cloistered South of that time. It was like moving to a different world.

North Carolina had something of a charmed life as it went through the season, escaping several close calls without a loss. It made it to the NCAA Final Four, although it wasn't called that then, and played Michigan State on a Friday. That game went three overtimes before the Tar Heels won. The reward was a Saturday night date with Kansas and its new sophomore star, Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt was so good that Kansas was favored going into the game.

The final was the "best game ever," as this also went into three overtimes. Somehow, someway, North Carolina figured out a way to win. The game revolutionized basketball in Chapel Hill, and turned the area into Basketball Country.

Lucas publishes "Tar Heel Monthly," which covers North Carolina sports. It's a little surprising, in spite of that background, that he concentrates so much on the North Carolina side of the story. The book easily could have taken about 50 more pages on the Kansas side of the story, which was fascinating in its own right.

Still, every great team probably deserves its own book, and the North Carolina squad is no exception. The casual hoop fan will enjoy taking a look back via "The Best Game Ever." It's brisk and to the point. North Carolina fans -- the obvious audience for it -- should give it an extra star.