Dean Smith 1931-2015
UNC coaching titan forged winners and leaders, ‘second father’ to Jordan
If the measure of a man is his ability to influence many things in life, to take unpopular stands and never waver from them, to reach beyond the normal call, Smith was a true giant.
DOUG SMITH on the legacy of a legend — in basketball and in life,
The numbers are astounding, incomprehensible in some ways.
Two NCAA championships, five title games, 11 Final Four appearances, 13 ACC tournament championships, 20 straight seasons of at least 20 wins, 879 victories, only one losing season — his first — in 27 years as a head coach.
The lineage is historical: an assistant coach at Kansas to Phog Allen, who learned the game at the feet of its inventor, Dr. James Naismith.
His impact on the NBA is indelible: Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Vince Carter, Billy Cunningham, Bob McAdoo, Bobby Jones as players, George Karl, Larry Brown, Doug Moe as coaches.
Dean Smith, the iconic North Carolina coach who died at his Chapel Hill home Sunday at 83, was basketball at its very essence — success and history, legacy and impact. He was the architect of the Four Corners offence, and encouraged players who scored baskets to acknowledge teammates who made the passes that led to them.
And he was so, so much more than the actual playing and coaching of the game. In 1967, he made Charlie Scott the first African-American basketball recruit at North Carolina — one of the first anywhere in the American South — and he was a tireless proponent of integration.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey understands the scope of Smith’s impact and what it meant to those teenagers who didn’t go on to professional basketball careers.
“He did a great job of developing not only successful basketball players — everybody remembers Michael Jordan — but I’m sure there are so many doctors and lawyers and heads of companies that he’s developed . . . through his program,” the Raptors coach said. “This is a small part of our life, basketball. It’s so important to us right now, but in the big scheme of things this is very small as far as what he taught and what he preached to his players.”
In his time as an assistant at the University of Kentucky, Casey recruited the same kids as North Carolina assistant Roy Williams did under Smith’s guidance. Casey recalls Smith’s presence as foreboding.
“When I was playing and coaching at Kentucky, North Carolina was our No. 1 nemesis but also, too, you admired and respected them,” he said. “You couldn’t say anything bad about North Carolina because it was such a class program and coach Smith did it the right way.”
Smith fought for the rights of gays and lesbians. He protested the Vietnam war, railed against the death penalty, spoke out against nuclear proliferation, advanced liberal and Democratic causes for his entire life — so much more than just basketball.
Tributes to Smith rolled in from around the world. From Jordan: “Other than my parents, no one had a bigger influence on my life than Coach Smith. He was more than a coach — he was my mentor, my teacher, my second father. Coach was always there for me whenever I needed him and I loved him for it. In teaching me the game of basketball, he taught me about life.”
I remember going to Buffalo for a couple of first-round NCAA games to interview Rick Fox. He talked about his college experience, how important the system was — the “North Carolina way” where seniors grew to be the leaders; where things were done the right way with the program in mind; how one class morphed into the other and what it taught him about loyalty and the importance of “team,” and what he thought that would mean as he grew to be a man.
It’s not to suggest that North Carolina alums are superior to those from other big NCAA programs, but there truly is something about the Carolina kids. If the measure of a man is his ability to influence many things in life, to take unpopular stands and never waver, to reach beyond the normal call, Smith was a true giant.
And everyone who came in contact with him knew it, even the most bitter of his basketball rivals. They knew, everyone knew, that Smith was bigger than the game.
“His greatest gift was his unique ability to teach what it takes to become a good man,” said Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who fought many a battle with Smith when both were ACC coaches. “That was easy for him to do because he was a great man himself.
“All of his players benefited greatly from his basketball teachings, but even more from his ability to help mould men of integrity, honour and purpose. Those teachings, specifically, will live forever in those he touched.”
We should all be remembered that way.