Carmichael Arena

By 1948, there began to be sentiments that Woollen was too small.[7] In 1958, after the university began to reduce the number of true home games, the student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel showed dissatisfaction with that decision and felt a new gym with a larger capacity would be needed to keep drawing strong competition.[8] The article cited how Coach Adolph Rupp and the Kentucky Wildcats played at Duke in front of a less than capacity crowd and would not return because they made little money off the visit.[8] In July 1962, there was a request to the North Carolina state legislature by the Consolidated University to receive funds to build an addition to Woollen Gym rather than a new $6 million coliseum as some had proposed.[9]

Construction began in May 1964 for the new annexed Auditorium.[10] On August 16, 1965, a water main that was connected improperly broke and flooded the auditorium with eight inches of water, which delayed the consutrction until a new floor could be placed.[10] It was hoped that the larger capacity (then estimated to be 10,000) in the auditorium would allow the university to turn a profit on home games for basketball.[10] With the 10,000 projected seats, it would have been the sixth largest "building of its type" in North Carolina.[10] Two-thirds of the seats will be arm-chairs, while the remainder were bleachers that can be retracted with hydraulics.[10] At the time, the basketball program only made money from road trips.[10] By September 1965, it was estimated the total cost of the facility was $1.725 million, with the opening of the new facility university accountant Vernan Crook hoped to turn a profit of $1,000 to $2,000 per home game.[10] Athletic Director C.P. Erickson stated that the new building would not be large enough to fit the growing student body and that the school would need to start planning on how to expand the venue further to accommodate the growth.[10] At that time, the air conditioning ducts had been installed but the school lacked the funds for installing the cooling equipment.[10] The new venue that shared Woollen's eastern wall was finished in 1965 in time for the start of the 1965–66 season, where they defeated the William & Mary Indians 82–68.[11]

As the Tar Heels increased in popularity, the university chose to have home games at off–campus venues as Woollen's seating was so limited,[13] choosing to play in Charlotte or Greensboro instead.[14] By playing at these locations, the school would turn more profit than normal home games at Woollen since student tickets were limited for these games and the venue was larger, allowing more tickets to be sold to the masses.[14] In the team's final season at Woollen, the Tar Heels only played seven true home games.[13] Due the various factors including Woollen Gymnasium's capacity, basketball practices being interrupted by intramural sports, and limited office space, the University of North Carolina administration sought plans to build a new facility.[15] The venue was to be named for William Donald Carmichael Jr. a former school vice president and former varsity basketball player from 1917 to 1920, as well as brother of Cartwright Carmichael.[16][17] The Woollen's seating capacity the amount of home games the school could host to around seven games a season, it was hoped that the opening of Carmichael Auditorium would allow for ten home games a season.[18] The new Auditorium's facilities would contain offices for all athletic departments, except for football which would be housed in the then Kenan Fieldhouse, in the east endzone of Kenan Memorial Stadium.[19] A trophy hall will be located in the entrance hallway and housed the trophies of all the athletic programs.[19]

Carmichael Auditorium, circa 1968

The venue was known for its loud atmosphere and temperature, so much that Maryland Terrapins coach Lefty Driesell and Virginia Cavaliers coach Terry Holland accused Dean Smith of tampering with the thermostat.[20] Smith would often keep Carmichael warm during practice to simulate the stuffy game conditions.[21] Long time assistant coach and future head coach Roy Williams once said "I guarantee you that for $1,000, Coach Smith couldn’t have found the thermostat or the light switch in Carmichael Auditorium."[21]

Issues with limited seating capacity forced the university to consider a new facility starting in the 1970s.[21] However, at the time a large fundraising effort for the school was ongoing and efforts would be started following its conclusion in 1979.[21]

Carolina played their final home game at Carmichael on January 4, 1986 against NC State Wolfpack and won 90–79.[17][22] Since the team's departure for the Smith Center, the men's basketball has returned to Carmichael on two occasions in 2010 and 2019, where they played William & Mary as a part of the National Invitation Tournament and won 82–70 and later against Wofford, losing 68–64. In total, Carolina played 191 games in Carmichael and finished with a record of 170–21 (.890).[17] As of the conclusion of the 2021–22 season, Carmichael has the best home winning percentage of the five home venues for the Tar Heels.[17] The Tar Heels went undefeated at Carmichael Auditorium in six of their twenty-one seasons at the facility: 1969–69 (9–0), 1970–71 (9–0), 1971–72 (9–0), 1978–79 (9–0), 1983–84 (9–0), and 1977–78 (10–0).[17] The most losses in a single season while playing in Carmichael came in the 1972–73 campaign when the Tar Heels lost three games.[23] The Tar Heels showed success in the Atlantic Coast Conference, winning the ACC regular season title in 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985, while winning the post–season conference tournament in 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, and 1982.[24]

• List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas

• Carmichael Arena page on University of North Carolina Athletics website