04/19/24
February 08, 2015
UNC's Legendary Coach Dean Smith Dies: Legendary University of North Carolina head basketball coach Dean Smith died Saturday evening at the age of 83, according to the University of North Carolina. He had battled dementia for years, and according to a family statement provided to UNC, he "passed away peacefully" in his Chapel Hill home with his wife and five children by his side. Smith coached the Tar Heels from 1961 to 1997, tallying a record of 879-254 in 36 seasons. The school named its basketball arena for Smith in 1986, and it's referred to as "the Dean Dome."
posted by rcade to basketball at 06:24 PM - 5 comments
Of all the info I've learned about Coach Smith, for some reason I like that he is getting credit for the "point at the passer" thing after a basket. That acknowledgement of your teammate assisting you is a real good "team" thing, and reflects on Smith's coaching strategy.
posted by grum@work at 08:45 AM on February 09, 2015
Growing up in NJ, which has great high school and poor college hoops, I was a big fan of the UNC/Duke rivalry in large part because of Smith. One team might be having an off year (rare) but for these games all that was out the window.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:21 AM on February 09, 2015
Really liked Charlie Pierce's memento mori.
posted by yerfatma at 01:16 PM on February 09, 2015
It took me a good while to discover and savor the things about Dean Smith most worth knowing and admiring. I attended a rival ACC school in the 70's and Coach Smith and the Tar Heels were not well liked. But they were also acknowledged as being a great program.
It was the old "maybe we hate 'em 'cause they always win" thing.
That was until the UNC Four Corners offense reared its ugly head a few years later. Then all bets were off as the game became greatly cheapened and prior admiration for Dean Smith, however begrudging, dropped through the floor and entered the storm drain. The dismay was not only felt around the league, but on a national basis.
Thankfully, the Four Corners was only a temporary blight and fortunately, the ACC quickly saw fit to install a league-wide shot clock after suffering through a particularly appalling ACC championship stall ball game won by UNC.
More galling is the fact that some Tar Heel faithful somehow think that the Four Corners was (and still is) something to pay tribute to and take pride in. Last I knew, the Four Corners Grille was still going strong in Chapel Hill. The idea that anyone would actually want to commemorate such a thing in a communal, convivial way is, well, astonishing. Shame alone should have prevented it, but alas did not.
It's unfortunate that any of that is part of the narrative, because otherwise, what a great and remarkable human being. I'm glad I had a chance to decouple from rabid ACC partisanship later in life and enjoy and admire Coach Smith and his teams on a broader and less biased basis. I remember almost gagging in outrage and disbelief when he was ejected in the Final Four game against Kansas (under Roy Williams). "WTF? They can't do that to DEAN SMITH!!" It was like having one of the ushers throw the Archbishop out of Midnight Mass.
posted by beaverboard at 02:24 PM on February 09, 2015
Dean Smith and a civil rights legacy (published in 2011)
Dean Smith's courage (published in 2013)
Smith spurred social change beyond basketball