After making their first ever NCAA Tournament in 1941, it took North Carolina a couple years to make it back. Bill Lange led them to that first tournament, and had a couple solid year in charge. However in 1944, Lange accepted the job as athletic director at Kenyon College in Ohio.
To replace him, UNC brought in Ben Carnevale. He was just 29 years old and had no prior coaching experience, but had a good playing career at NYU. He was coming off a stint serving in the Navy in World War II when he was tapped to be Carolina’s new coach.