Over the next two seasons at UNC, he improved the team's win total from four to 13 and then 14. The Bears defeated Colorado State, 72–59, in his second season and also knocked off San Diego State, 72–59. The Aztecs were ranked among the nation's top 50 teams in the RPI rankings at that time. In year three, the Bears had improved from one conference win his first season to an even 8–8 mark and earned the school's first Division I post season trip, to the Big Sky Conference Tournament.