Dean Smith, longtime Tar Heels coach, age 83 — R.I.P.
Posted: February 11th, 2015, 6:22 pm
Dean Smith, who built the University of North Carolina men’s basketball team into a perennial national power in his 36 years at Chapel Hill and became one of the game’s most respected figures for qualities that transcended the court, died on Saturday [Feb. 7] in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 83.
The university announced his death. His family said in 2010 that he had a progressive neurological disorder that affected his memory.
Smith had 879 victories, fourth most among major college men’s basketball coaches, and his teams won two national championships.
But it was his values — his fight against racial discrimination when segregation was still prevalent in the South and his insistence that his players prepare themselves for a future beyond the game — that earned him an especially enduring stature.
President Obama awarded Smith the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, in November 2013, citing his “courage in helping to change our country” through his progressive views on race relations.
In a statement released after Smith’s death, Mr. Obama said, “Coach Smith showed us something that I’ve seen again and again on the court — that basketball can tell us a lot more about who you are than a jump shot alone ever could.”
Michael Jordan, perhaps basketball’s greatest player, was among a host of all-Americans who played for Smith. Jordan issued a statement on Twitter saying that Smith was “more than a coach — he was a mentor, my teacher, my second father,” who had taught him not only about basketball but also about “the game of life.” . . .
The full article, along with related coverage, is here.
I lived in Chapel Hill during some of the Dean Smith years and almost became a basketball fan.
R.I.P.