Throwback Thursday: Dean plays mind games with Lefty

For the first decade-plus of its existence, the ACC Sports Journal was known as “The PooP Sheet.” Throughout those early years, The PooP Sheet was one of the earliest sources for insider news and recruiting news throughout the league. Our goal remains the same today – to provide our readers with accurate and compelling information about the ACC and its schools.

We take our readers back with some highlights from the past:

35 Years Ago – 1981

North Carolina and Virginia were in the NCAA Sweet 16 after Wake Forest and Maryland got knocked out the tournament. The Cavaliers were the No. 1 seed in the East, and the Tar Heels were No. 2 in the West. Duke was still alive in the NIT, but had to face Alabama without Gene Banks. He broke his wrist in a first-round win over North Carolina A&T. Clemson was ousted by Temple.

UNC had won the ACC Tournament, defeating Maryland in the championship game. Dean Smith used his higher seed to force the Terps to…