Dean Smith
Encyclopedia
Dean Edwards Smith is a retired American head coach
of men's college basketball
. Originally from Emporia
, Kansas
, Smith has been called a “coaching legend” by the Basketball Hall of Fame
. Smith is best known for his successful 36-year coaching tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
. Smith coached from 1961 to 1997 and retired as the NCAA
Division I men's basketball record-holder for victories (879), a record which was surpassed by Bob Knight in 2007 and Mike Krzyzewski in 2011. Smith has the 9th highest winning percentage
of any men’s college basketball coach (77.6%). During his tenure as head coach of North Carolina, the team won two national titles and appeared in 11 Final Four
s.
Smith is also known for running a clean program and having a high graduation rate for his players, with 96.6% of his athletes receiving their degrees. While at North Carolina, Smith helped promote desegregation
by recruiting the University’s first African American
scholarship basketball player, Charlie Scott
, and pushing for equal treatment for African Americans by local businesses. Smith coached and worked with numerous individuals at North Carolina who went on to achieve notable success in basketball, as either players or coaches or both. Smith retired as head coach from North Carolina in 1997, saying that he was not able to give the team the same level of enthusiasm that he had given it for years. Since retirement, Smith has used his influence to help out in various charitable ventures and political activities.
, Kansas
, on February 28, 1931. Both of his parents were public school teachers. Smith's father, Alfred, coached the Emporia High Spartans
basketball team to the 1934 state title in Kansas. This 1934 team was notable for having the first African-American basketball player in Kansas tournament history. While at Topeka High School
, Smith lettered in basketball all four years and was named all-state in basketball as a senior. Smith's interest in sports was not limited only to basketball. Smith also played quarterback for his high school football team and catcher for the high school baseball
team.
on an academic scholarship where he majored in mathematics and joined Phi Gamma Delta
fraternity. While at Kansas, Smith continued his interest in sports by playing varsity basketball, varsity baseball, and freshman football, and was a member of the Air Force ROTC detachment. During his time on the varsity basketball team, Kansas won the national championship in 1952 and were NCAA tournament finalists in 1953. Smith's basketball coach during his time at Kansas was the legendary Forrest "Phog" Allen, who had been coached in college by the inventor of basketball James Naismith
. After graduation, Smith served as assistant coach at Kansas in the 1953–54 season. He later stated that "everything I ever learned about basketball, I learned at the University of Kansas."
in Germany, later working as a head coach of United States Air Force Academy
's baseball and golf teams. Yet, Smith's big break would come in the United States. In 1958, North Carolina coach Frank McGuire
asked Smith to join his staff as an assistant coach. Smith served under McGuire for three years until 1961, when McGuire was forced to resign by Chancellor William Aycock
in the wake of recruiting scandals. Aycock asked Smith, then 30 years old, to become the new head coach to replace McGuire beginning in fall 1961. Believing that McGuire had compromised UNC's image while building a basketball powerhouse, Aycock told Smith that wins and losses didn't matter as much as running a clean program and representing the university well.
The Atlantic Coast Conference
(ACC) had canceled the Dixie Classic
, an annual basketball tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina, due to a national point shaving
scandal including one North Carolina player (Lou Brown). As a result of the scandal, North Carolina de-emphasized basketball by cutting their regular-season schedule. In Smith's first season from 1961–62, North Carolina played only 17 games and went 8-9. As it turned out, this would be the only losing season he would ever suffer. In 1965, he was famously hanged in effigy on the university campus following a disappointing loss to Wake Forest
. After that game, his team ended up winning nine of the last eleven games. After a slow beginning, Smith turned the program into a consistent success. After the 1966 season, Smith's teams never finished worse than a tie for third in the ACC; for the first 20 of those years, they didn't finish worse than a tie for second. By comparison, during that time the ACC's other charter members each finished last at least once.
His first major successes came in the late 1960s, when his teams won three consecutive regular-season and ACC tournament championships, and went to three straight Final Four
s. Unfortunately, this run occurred in the middle of UCLA
's run of 10 titles in 12 years; in fact Smith lost to UCLA's John Wooden
in the 1968 title game.
It took Smith seven trips to the Final Four before winning his first national title, and then it took him nine more years to return, and two more to get another national championship.
Dean Smith's first national championship occurred in 1982, when the team was composed of future NBA players such as Michael Jordan
, James Worthy
and Sam Perkins
. After winning the NCAA Tournament, North Carolina had a record of 32-2. The other teams that advanced with North Carolina were Georgetown
, Houston
and Louisville
. In the Semifinals, North Carolina defeated Houston 68-63 in New Orleans, while Georgetown defeated Louisville 50-46.
The national title game against Georgetown was evenly matched throughout. However, with 17 seconds left on the clock, and the Tar Heels behind by 1 point, Jordan made what ended up being the game-winning shot to put the Tar Heels up 63-62. On Georgetown's ensuing possession, Hoya guard Fred Brown mistakenly passed the ball to Worthy. Worthy attempted to dribble out the clock, but was fouled with 2 seconds left. He missed both free throws, but Georgetown had no timeouts left. The Hoyas missed a halfcourt shot and lost the game.
Dean Smith's 1993 squad featured George Lynch
, Eric Montross
, Brian Reese, Donald Williams
and Derrick Phelps
. The Tar Heels started out with an 8-0 record and were ranked #5 in the country when they met #6 Michigan in the semi-finals of the Rainbow Classic. The Wolverines, led by the Fab Five
in their sophomore season, won 79-78 on a last-second shot. North Carolina bounced back with nine straight wins before losing back-to-back road games against unranked Wake Forest
and #5 Duke
. After seven more straight wins, the Tar Heels were ranked #1 heading into the last week of the regular season (their first #1 ranking since the start of the 1987-88 season). North Carolina beat #14 Wake Forest and #6 Duke to close out the regular season and clinch the top seed in the ACC tournament. North Carolina reached the tournament final, but they lost 77-75 to Georgia Tech without Derrick Phelps who was injured. Nonetheless, North Carolina was awarded the top seed in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament
, defeating #16-seed East Carolina
(85-65), #8-seed Rhode Island
(112-67), #4-seed Arkansas
(80-74) and #2-seed Cincinnati
(75-68) to reach the Final Four in New Orleans.
In the National Semifinals, Smith's Tar Heels defeated his alma mater Kansas (coached by future North Carolina coach Roy Williams
) 78-68, setting up a rematch with #3-ranked Michigan in the Finals.
The national title game was a see-saw battle throughout, but is remembered best for Chris Webber
calling a time-out with seconds left that Michigan didn't have. Michigan was assessed a technical foul and North Carolina ended up winning 77-71, giving Smith his second national championship.
, his assistant for 30 years, succeeded him as head coach.
Even in retirement, some believe that Smith still has a large influence on the current North Carolina basketball program. For example, in 2003 Smith talked to Roy Williams
regarding his decision about whether or not to replace a struggling Matt Doherty as head coach. Williams had previously declined the head coaching position three years earlier when Guthridge retired.
On July 12, 2010 journalist John Feinstein
said that he had abandoned a biography
of Smith because of Smith's deteriorating memory.
Because of rumors, Smith's family released a letter on July 17, 2010, stating that Smith had "a progressive neurocognitive disorder", which has not been labelled as Alzheimer's
or anything else. He has trouble remembering the names of some of his players, the letter said, but he cannot forget what his relationships with those players mean. He also remembers words to hymn
s and jazz standard
s, but does not go to concerts. He has difficulty with traveling but continues to watch his former team on TV. Williams said, "He does have his good days and bad."
Smith is credited with creating or popularizing the following basketball techniques: The "tired signal," in which a player would use a hand signal (originally a raised fist) to indicate that he needed to come out for a rest, huddling at the free throw line before a foul shot, encouraging players who scored a basket to point a finger at the teammate who passed them the ball, in honor of the passer's selflessness, instituting a variety of defensive sets in one game, having the point guard call out the defense set for the team, and creating a number of defensive sets, including the point zone, the run-and-jump, and double-teaming the screen-and-roll.
But strategically, Smith is most associated with his implementation of the four corners offense
, a strategy for stalling with a lead near the end of the game. Smith's teams executed the four corners set so effectively that in 1985 the NCAA instituted a shot clock to speed up play and minimize ball-control offense. Although fellow Kansas
alum John McClendon actually invented the four corners offense, Smith is better known for utilizing it in games. Smith is also the author of Basketball: Multiple Offense and Defense, which is the best-selling technical basketball book in history.
Smith also instituted the practice of starting all his team's seniors on the last home game of the season ("Senior Day") as a way of honoring the contributions of the subs as well as the stars. A story relates that in one season when the team included six seniors, he opted to put all six on the floor at the beginning of the game – drawing a technical foul
– rather than leave one of them out.
During the 1993 run for the national title, Coach Smith used a method that was introduced to him at a conference in Switzerland. At the conference, Smith was presented a tape by a lecturer who used doctored images to achieve his goal of losing weight. The photos showed this lecturer what he would look like if he were thinner, ultimately giving him the motivation to reach his weight-loss goals. Keeping this tactic in mind, Smith took a picture of the scoreboard from the 1982 Championship, modified it to read 1993 and erased the name Georgetown, leaving that space blank. He then proceeded to place copies of the new doctored photo in all of the players' lockers so they could look at it and achieve the goal that Smith wanted.
Smith received a number of personal honors during his coaching career. He was named the National Coach of the Year four times (1977, 1979, 1982, 1993) and ACC Coach of the Year eight times (1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1988, 1993). Smith was also inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame
on May 2, 1983, two years after being enshrined in the North Carolina Hall of Fame.
Smith was the first recipient of the Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement, given by the University of North Carolina Committee on Teaching Awards for "a broader range of teaching beyond the classroom." He has also been awarded honorary doctorates by Eastern University and Catawba College
.
The basketball arena at North Carolina, the Dean E. Smith Center, was named for Smith. It is also widely referred to as the "Dean Dome". In 1997, upon his retirement, Smith was named Sportsman of the Year
by the magazine Sports Illustrated
. ESPN named Smith one of the five all-time greatest American coaches of any sport. In 1998 he won the Arthur Ashe Courage Award
, presented at the annual ESPY Awards hosted by ESPN.
On November 17, 2006, Smith was recognized for his impact on college basketball as a member of the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
. He was one of five, along with Oscar Robertson
, Bill Russell
, John Wooden
and Dr. James Naismith, selected to represent the inaugural class. In 2007, he was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame
.
in North Carolina politics. Politically, he is best known for promoting desegregation
, a reflection of his roots in Kansas. In 1964, Smith joined a local pastor and a black North Carolina theology student to integrate The Pines, a Chapel Hill restaurant. He also integrated the Tar Heels basketball team by recruiting Charlie Scott
as the university's first black scholarship athlete. In 1965, Smith helped Howard Lee
, a black graduate student at North Carolina, purchase a home in an all-white neighborhood. He opposed the Vietnam War and, in the early 1980s, famously recorded radio spots to promote a freeze on nuclear weapons. He has been a prominent opponent of the death penalty. In 1998, he appeared at a clemency hearing for a death-row inmate and pointed at then-Governor Jim Hunt
: "You're a murderer. And I'm a murderer. The death penalty makes us all murderers." As head coach, he periodically held North Carolina basketball practices in North Carolina prisons.
While coach, he was recruited by some in the Democratic Party to run for the United States Senate
against incumbent Jesse Helms
. He declined. But in retirement, he has continued to speak out on issues such as the war in Iraq, death penalty and gay rights. Although a staunch Democrat, Smith did support one of his former players, Republican Richard Vinroot
, for governor of North Carolina
in 2000. In 2006, Smith became the spokesperson for Devout Democrats, an inter-faith, grassroots political action committee
designed to convince religious Americans to vote for Democrats. Smith was featured in an ad that ran in newspapers across North Carolina and was featured in an Associated Press
article. On October 13, 2008, he endorsed Senator Barack Obama
's candidacy for President of the United States
.
Coach (basketball)
Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behaviour of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as well as overall physical conditioning.Coaching is...
of men's college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
. Originally from Emporia
Emporia, Kansas
Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,916. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 335 and 35 on the Kansas Turnpike...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Smith has been called a “coaching legend” by the Basketball Hall of Fame
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...
. Smith is best known for his successful 36-year coaching tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. Smith coached from 1961 to 1997 and retired as the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I men's basketball record-holder for victories (879), a record which was surpassed by Bob Knight in 2007 and Mike Krzyzewski in 2011. Smith has the 9th highest winning percentage
Winning percentage
In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses . Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win...
of any men’s college basketball coach (77.6%). During his tenure as head coach of North Carolina, the team won two national titles and appeared in 11 Final Four
Final four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...
s.
Smith is also known for running a clean program and having a high graduation rate for his players, with 96.6% of his athletes receiving their degrees. While at North Carolina, Smith helped promote desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
by recruiting the University’s first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
scholarship basketball player, Charlie Scott
Charlie Scott
Charles Thomas Scott is an American former professional basketball player. He played two seasons in the now-defunct American Basketball Association and eight seasons in the National Basketball Association .A 6'5" guard/forward from the Laurinburg Institute...
, and pushing for equal treatment for African Americans by local businesses. Smith coached and worked with numerous individuals at North Carolina who went on to achieve notable success in basketball, as either players or coaches or both. Smith retired as head coach from North Carolina in 1997, saying that he was not able to give the team the same level of enthusiasm that he had given it for years. Since retirement, Smith has used his influence to help out in various charitable ventures and political activities.
Early years
Smith was born in EmporiaEmporia, Kansas
Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,916. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 335 and 35 on the Kansas Turnpike...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, on February 28, 1931. Both of his parents were public school teachers. Smith's father, Alfred, coached the Emporia High Spartans
Emporia High School
Emporia High School is a fully accredited public high school located in Emporia, Kansas, serving students in grades 9-12. Emporia has an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students and a teaching staff of 130. It is the only public high school within the city of Emporia. The principal is Scott Sheldon...
basketball team to the 1934 state title in Kansas. This 1934 team was notable for having the first African-American basketball player in Kansas tournament history. While at Topeka High School
Topeka High School
Topeka High School is a fully accredited high school, serving students in grades 9-12, located in Topeka, Kansas. It is one of four high schools within Topeka Public Schools. The school colors are black and gold...
, Smith lettered in basketball all four years and was named all-state in basketball as a senior. Smith's interest in sports was not limited only to basketball. Smith also played quarterback for his high school football team and catcher for the high school baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team.
College years
After graduating from high school, Smith attended the University of KansasUniversity of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
on an academic scholarship where he majored in mathematics and joined Phi Gamma Delta
Phi Gamma Delta
The international fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta is a collegiate social fraternity with 120 chapters and 18 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848, and its headquarters are located in Lexington, Kentucky, USA...
fraternity. While at Kansas, Smith continued his interest in sports by playing varsity basketball, varsity baseball, and freshman football, and was a member of the Air Force ROTC detachment. During his time on the varsity basketball team, Kansas won the national championship in 1952 and were NCAA tournament finalists in 1953. Smith's basketball coach during his time at Kansas was the legendary Forrest "Phog" Allen, who had been coached in college by the inventor of basketball James Naismith
James Naismith
The first game of "Basket Ball" was played in December 1891. In a handwritten report, Naismith described the circumstances of the inaugural match; in contrast to modern basketball, the players played nine versus nine, handled a soccer ball, not a basketball, and instead of shooting at two hoops,...
. After graduation, Smith served as assistant coach at Kansas in the 1953–54 season. He later stated that "everything I ever learned about basketball, I learned at the University of Kansas."
Early years in basketball coaching
Smith next served a stint in the United States Air ForceUnited States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
in Germany, later working as a head coach of United States Air Force Academy
Air Force Falcons
The Air Force Falcons are the collegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The intercollegiate program has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams...
's baseball and golf teams. Yet, Smith's big break would come in the United States. In 1958, North Carolina coach Frank McGuire
Frank McGuire
Frank Joseph McGuire was an American athletic coach who gained his greatest renown in collegiate basketball....
asked Smith to join his staff as an assistant coach. Smith served under McGuire for three years until 1961, when McGuire was forced to resign by Chancellor William Aycock
William Brantley Aycock
William Brantley Aycock is an American educator who served as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1957 until 1964 and is the retired Kenan Professor of Law at the UNC School of Law....
in the wake of recruiting scandals. Aycock asked Smith, then 30 years old, to become the new head coach to replace McGuire beginning in fall 1961. Believing that McGuire had compromised UNC's image while building a basketball powerhouse, Aycock told Smith that wins and losses didn't matter as much as running a clean program and representing the university well.
The Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
(ACC) had canceled the Dixie Classic
Dixie Classic (Basketball Tournament)
The Dixie Classic was an annual college basketball tournament played from 1949 to 1960 in Reynolds Coliseum. The field consisted of the "Big Four" North Carolina schools, the host NC State Wolfpack, Duke Blue Devils, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and four teams from...
, an annual basketball tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina, due to a national point shaving
Point shaving
In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to prevent a team from covering a published point spread. Unlike other forms of match fixing, sports betting invariably motivates point shaving. A point shaving scheme generally involves a sports gambler and one...
scandal including one North Carolina player (Lou Brown). As a result of the scandal, North Carolina de-emphasized basketball by cutting their regular-season schedule. In Smith's first season from 1961–62, North Carolina played only 17 games and went 8-9. As it turned out, this would be the only losing season he would ever suffer. In 1965, he was famously hanged in effigy on the university campus following a disappointing loss to Wake Forest
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
. After that game, his team ended up winning nine of the last eleven games. After a slow beginning, Smith turned the program into a consistent success. After the 1966 season, Smith's teams never finished worse than a tie for third in the ACC; for the first 20 of those years, they didn't finish worse than a tie for second. By comparison, during that time the ACC's other charter members each finished last at least once.
His first major successes came in the late 1960s, when his teams won three consecutive regular-season and ACC tournament championships, and went to three straight Final Four
Final four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...
s. Unfortunately, this run occurred in the middle of UCLA
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I...
's run of 10 titles in 12 years; in fact Smith lost to UCLA's John Wooden
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
in the 1968 title game.
It took Smith seven trips to the Final Four before winning his first national title, and then it took him nine more years to return, and two more to get another national championship.
First National Championship
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
, James Worthy
James Worthy
James Ager Worthy is a retired Hall of Fame American college and professional basketball player. Named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, "Big Game James" was a seven-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA champion...
and Sam Perkins
Sam Perkins
Samuel Perkins is a retired American professional basketball player, also known by the nicknames "Sleepy Sam" and "Big Smooth." He attended Samuel J. Tilden High School, Shaker High School and the University of North Carolina, where he was a teammate of Michael Jordan...
. After winning the NCAA Tournament, North Carolina had a record of 32-2. The other teams that advanced with North Carolina were Georgetown
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
and Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
. In the Semifinals, North Carolina defeated Houston 68-63 in New Orleans, while Georgetown defeated Louisville 50-46.
The national title game against Georgetown was evenly matched throughout. However, with 17 seconds left on the clock, and the Tar Heels behind by 1 point, Jordan made what ended up being the game-winning shot to put the Tar Heels up 63-62. On Georgetown's ensuing possession, Hoya guard Fred Brown mistakenly passed the ball to Worthy. Worthy attempted to dribble out the clock, but was fouled with 2 seconds left. He missed both free throws, but Georgetown had no timeouts left. The Hoyas missed a halfcourt shot and lost the game.
Second National Championship
Dean Smith's 1993 squad featured George Lynch
George Lynch (basketball)
George DeWitt Lynch III is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA. He holds the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill basketball record for most career steals....
, Eric Montross
Eric Montross
Eric Scott Montross is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the NBA....
, Brian Reese, Donald Williams
Donald Williams (basketball)
Donald Williams is a former American professional basketball player.Born in Garner, North Carolina, Williams played for Garner High School before going on to play at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill....
and Derrick Phelps
Derrick Phelps
Derrick Michael Phelps is an American former professional basketball player. At 6' 4" and 181 lbs., he played as a point guard....
. The Tar Heels started out with an 8-0 record and were ranked #5 in the country when they met #6 Michigan in the semi-finals of the Rainbow Classic. The Wolverines, led by the Fab Five
Fab Five (University of Michigan)
The Fab Five was the nickname for a 1991 University of Michigan men's basketball team recruitment class that is considered by some to be "the greatest class ever recruited." The class consisted of Detroit natives Chris Webber and Jalen Rose, Chicago native Juwan Howard, and Texas high school...
in their sophomore season, won 79-78 on a last-second shot. North Carolina bounced back with nine straight wins before losing back-to-back road games against unranked Wake Forest
Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team participates in the Atlantic Coast Conference and their homecourt is the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Their only Final Four appearance was in 1962 and through the years they have produced several NBA players. The Demon Deacons have...
and #5 Duke
Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
The Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team is the college basketball program representing Duke University in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I...
. After seven more straight wins, the Tar Heels were ranked #1 heading into the last week of the regular season (their first #1 ranking since the start of the 1987-88 season). North Carolina beat #14 Wake Forest and #6 Duke to close out the regular season and clinch the top seed in the ACC tournament. North Carolina reached the tournament final, but they lost 77-75 to Georgia Tech without Derrick Phelps who was injured. Nonetheless, North Carolina was awarded the top seed in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament
1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 1993, and ended with the championship game on April 5 in New Orleans, Louisiana...
, defeating #16-seed East Carolina
East Carolina Pirates men's basketball
The East Carolina Pirates men's basketball team represents East Carolina University in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in Conference USA...
(85-65), #8-seed Rhode Island
Rhode Island Rams men's basketball
The Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Ten Conference representing the University of Rhode Island. The team is currently coached by Jim Baron, who is in his 10th year...
(112-67), #4-seed Arkansas
Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
The Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team represents the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The school's team currently competes in the Southeastern Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2008...
(80-74) and #2-seed Cincinnati
Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
The Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team is the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. They currently compete in the Big East Conference and are coached by Mick Cronin. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in...
(75-68) to reach the Final Four in New Orleans.
In the National Semifinals, Smith's Tar Heels defeated his alma mater Kansas (coached by future North Carolina coach Roy Williams
Roy Williams (coach)
Roy Williams is head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of North Carolina. After averaging nearly an 80% win percentage in 15 seasons at the University of Kansas, he became the eighteenth head coach at North Carolina when he replaced Matt Doherty in 2003...
) 78-68, setting up a rematch with #3-ranked Michigan in the Finals.
The national title game was a see-saw battle throughout, but is remembered best for Chris Webber
Chris Webber
Mayce Edward Christopher "Chris" Webber, III , nicknamed C-Webb, is a retired American professional basketball player. He is a five-time NBA All-Star, a former All-NBA First Teamer, a former NBA Rookie of the Year, and a former #1 overall NBA Draftee...
calling a time-out with seconds left that Michigan didn't have. Michigan was assessed a technical foul and North Carolina ended up winning 77-71, giving Smith his second national championship.
Retirement
Smith announced his retirement on October 9, 1997. He had said that if he ever felt he could not give his team the same enthusiasm he had given it for years, he would retire. His announcement was a shock to the basketball community and fans, as he had given little warning that he was considering retirement. Smith had been the only coach many North Carolina fans had ever known. Bill GuthridgeBill Guthridge
Bill Guthridge is a retired American college basketball coach.Guthridge initially gained recognition after serving for 30 years as Dean Smith's assistant at the University of North Carolina. Following Dean Smith's retirement in 1997, Guthridge served as head coach of the Tar Heels for three seasons...
, his assistant for 30 years, succeeded him as head coach.
Even in retirement, some believe that Smith still has a large influence on the current North Carolina basketball program. For example, in 2003 Smith talked to Roy Williams
Roy Williams (coach)
Roy Williams is head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of North Carolina. After averaging nearly an 80% win percentage in 15 seasons at the University of Kansas, he became the eighteenth head coach at North Carolina when he replaced Matt Doherty in 2003...
regarding his decision about whether or not to replace a struggling Matt Doherty as head coach. Williams had previously declined the head coaching position three years earlier when Guthridge retired.
On July 12, 2010 journalist John Feinstein
John Feinstein
John Feinstein is an American sportswriter, author and sports commentator who wrote the top two best-selling non-fiction sports books in history, A Good Walk Spoiled and A Season on the Brink.-Early life:...
said that he had abandoned a biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of Smith because of Smith's deteriorating memory.
Because of rumors, Smith's family released a letter on July 17, 2010, stating that Smith had "a progressive neurocognitive disorder", which has not been labelled as Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
or anything else. He has trouble remembering the names of some of his players, the letter said, but he cannot forget what his relationships with those players mean. He also remembers words to hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s and jazz standard
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
s, but does not go to concerts. He has difficulty with traveling but continues to watch his former team on TV. Williams said, "He does have his good days and bad."
Coaching style
Smith-coached teams varied in style, depending on the players Smith had available. But they generally featured a fast-break style, a half-court offense that emphasized the passing game, and an aggressive trapping defense that produced turnovers and easy baskets. His teams always shot the ball well. From 1970 until his retirement, North Carolina shot over 50% from the floor all but four years.Smith is credited with creating or popularizing the following basketball techniques: The "tired signal," in which a player would use a hand signal (originally a raised fist) to indicate that he needed to come out for a rest, huddling at the free throw line before a foul shot, encouraging players who scored a basket to point a finger at the teammate who passed them the ball, in honor of the passer's selflessness, instituting a variety of defensive sets in one game, having the point guard call out the defense set for the team, and creating a number of defensive sets, including the point zone, the run-and-jump, and double-teaming the screen-and-roll.
But strategically, Smith is most associated with his implementation of the four corners offense
Four corners offense
The four corners offense is an offensive strategy for stalling in basketball. Four of the players stand in the corners of the offensive half-court and the fifth dribbles the ball in the middle...
, a strategy for stalling with a lead near the end of the game. Smith's teams executed the four corners set so effectively that in 1985 the NCAA instituted a shot clock to speed up play and minimize ball-control offense. Although fellow Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
alum John McClendon actually invented the four corners offense, Smith is better known for utilizing it in games. Smith is also the author of Basketball: Multiple Offense and Defense, which is the best-selling technical basketball book in history.
Smith also instituted the practice of starting all his team's seniors on the last home game of the season ("Senior Day") as a way of honoring the contributions of the subs as well as the stars. A story relates that in one season when the team included six seniors, he opted to put all six on the floor at the beginning of the game – drawing a technical foul
Technical foul
In basketball, a technical foul is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between players on the court, or is a foul by a non-player. The most common technical foul is for unsportsmanlike conduct...
– rather than leave one of them out.
During the 1993 run for the national title, Coach Smith used a method that was introduced to him at a conference in Switzerland. At the conference, Smith was presented a tape by a lecturer who used doctored images to achieve his goal of losing weight. The photos showed this lecturer what he would look like if he were thinner, ultimately giving him the motivation to reach his weight-loss goals. Keeping this tactic in mind, Smith took a picture of the scoreboard from the 1982 Championship, modified it to read 1993 and erased the name Georgetown, leaving that space blank. He then proceeded to place copies of the new doctored photo in all of the players' lockers so they could look at it and achieve the goal that Smith wanted.
Personal life
Smith married Ann Cleavinger in 1954, shortly before his deployment overseas with the Air Force. They had three children: daughters Sharon and Sandy, and son Scott. Smith and Cleavinger divorced in 1973. Smith married Linnea Weblemoe on May 21, 1976. They have two adult daughters, Kristen and Kelly.Accomplishments and recognition
Accomplishments
Among the accomplishments of Smith:- 879 wins in 36 years of coaching, 3rd most in men's college Division I basketball history behind Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski. Adolph Rupp'sAdolph RuppAdolph Frederick Rupp was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching...
876 wins came after 41 years of coaching. Smith compiled a 77.6% winning percentage while coaching 1,133 games at an average of 31.5 games a season. Rupp coached 1069 games in 41 years at an average of 26 games a season with an 82.2% winning percentage. - 77.6% winning percentage, which puts him 9th on highest winning percentage.
- Fourth total number of college games coached with 1,133.
- Most Division I 20-win seasons, with 27 consecutive 20-win seasons from 1970–1997 and 30 20-win seasons total.
- 22 seasons with at least 25 wins
- 35 consecutive seasons with a 50% or better record.
- Two national championships (1982, 1993)
- 11 Final Fours (tied with Duke's Coach K for second all-time to John WoodenJohn WoodenJohn Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
's 12). - 17 regular-season ACC titles, plus 33 straight years finishing in the conference's top three and 20 years in the top two
- 13 ACC tournament titles
- 27 NCAA tournament appearances, including 23 consecutive.
- 96.6% graduation rate among players.
- Recruited 26 All-Americans to play at North Carolina under him.
- His players were often successful in the NBANational Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
. Five of Smith's players have been Rookie of the Year in either the NBA or ABA. Among Smith's most successful players in the NBA are Michael JordanMichael JordanMichael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
, Larry BrownLarry Brown (basketball)Lawrence Harvey "Larry" Brown is an American basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as head coach of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Bobcats....
, James WorthyJames WorthyJames Ager Worthy is a retired Hall of Fame American college and professional basketball player. Named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, "Big Game James" was a seven-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA champion...
, Sam PerkinsSam PerkinsSamuel Perkins is a retired American professional basketball player, also known by the nicknames "Sleepy Sam" and "Big Smooth." He attended Samuel J. Tilden High School, Shaker High School and the University of North Carolina, where he was a teammate of Michael Jordan...
, Phil Ford, Bob McAdoo, Billy CunninghamBilly CunninghamWilliam John "Billy" Cunningham is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid.- Beginnings :...
, Kenny SmithKenny SmithKenneth "The Jet" Smith is a retired National Basketball Association player and current TV basketball analyst, primarily for Inside the NBA on TNT.-Early life:...
, Walter DavisWalter Davis (basketball)Walter Paul Davis is a retired American basketball player. A 6'6" forward/guard, Davis spent 15 years in the National Basketball Association, spending the bulk of those years with the Phoenix Suns...
, Jerry StackhouseJerry StackhouseJerry Darnell Stackhouse is an American professional basketball player who plays both shooting guard and small forward. He most recently played for the Miami Heat. He is now an NBA TV analyst but remains as an eligible free agent....
, Antawn JamisonAntawn JamisonAntawn Cortez Jamison is an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association . He currently plays power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers and was a member of the USA National Team for the 2006 FIBA World Championships...
, Rick FoxRick FoxUlrich Alexander "Rick" Fox is a Canadian television actor and retired professional basketball player who last played for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers in 2004.-Early life:...
, Vince CarterVince CarterVincent Lamar "Vince" Carter is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns. He is a shooting guard who can also play small forward....
and Rasheed WallaceRasheed WallaceRasheed Abdul Wallace is a retired American professional basketball power forward and center who played from 1995 to 2010 in the National Basketball Association...
. Smith coached 25 NBA first round draft picks. When Jordan was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he said, "There's no way you guys would have got a chance to see Michael Jordan play without Dean Smith." - In 1976, Smith coached the United States team to a gold medalBasketball at the 1976 Summer OlympicsBasketball contests at the 1976 Summer Olympics took place from July 18 to July 27 at the Centre Étienne Desmarteau and the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Canada. Women's basketball was introduced to the Olympic program for the first time at this Games...
at the Summer Olympics1976 Summer OlympicsThe 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
in MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. - Smith is one of only three coaches to have coached teams to an Olympic gold medal, an NIT championship and an NCAA championship. The others are Pete NewellPete NewellPeter Francis Newell was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University and the University of California, Berkeley, compiling an overall record of 234 wins and 123 losses...
and Bob Knight. - At the time of his retirement, Smith was one of only three people, along with Bob Knight, and Joe B. HallJoe B. Hall-See also:*Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball*NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coaches- External links :* at unofficial Fan Site* * *...
who had both played on and coached a winning NCAA championship basketball team.
Recognition
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...
on May 2, 1983, two years after being enshrined in the North Carolina Hall of Fame.
Smith was the first recipient of the Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement, given by the University of North Carolina Committee on Teaching Awards for "a broader range of teaching beyond the classroom." He has also been awarded honorary doctorates by Eastern University and Catawba College
Catawba College
Catawba College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in Salisbury, North Carolina, USA. Founded in 1851 by the North Carolina Classis of the Reformed Church in Newton, the college adopted its name from its county of origin, Catawba County, before moving to its current home of Salisbury...
.
The basketball arena at North Carolina, the Dean E. Smith Center, was named for Smith. It is also widely referred to as the "Dean Dome". In 1997, upon his retirement, Smith was named Sportsman of the Year
Sportsman of the Year
Since its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated magazine has annually presented the "Sportsman of the Year" award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." Both Americans and non-Americans are eligible, though in the past the...
by the magazine Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
. ESPN named Smith one of the five all-time greatest American coaches of any sport. In 1998 he won the Arthur Ashe Courage Award
Arthur Ashe Courage Award
The Arthur Ashe Courage Award is an award that is part of the ESPY Awards. Although it is a sport-oriented award, it is not limited to sports-related people or actions.-List of recipients:-External links:***...
, presented at the annual ESPY Awards hosted by ESPN.
On November 17, 2006, Smith was recognized for his impact on college basketball as a member of the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the National Association of Basketball Coaches , located at the Sprint...
. He was one of five, along with Oscar Robertson
Oscar Robertson
Oscar Palmer Robertson , nicknamed "The Big O", is a former American NBA player with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks...
, Bill Russell
Bill Russell
William Felton "Bill" Russell is a retired American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association...
, John Wooden
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
and Dr. James Naismith, selected to represent the inaugural class. In 2007, he was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame
FIBA Hall of Fame
FIBA Hall of Fame honors basketball players, coaches and administrators who have contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. It includes the "Samaranch Library", the biggest basketball library in the world that, as of 2007, has over 10,000 basketball...
.
Political activities
Smith is one of the most prominent DemocratsDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
in North Carolina politics. Politically, he is best known for promoting desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
, a reflection of his roots in Kansas. In 1964, Smith joined a local pastor and a black North Carolina theology student to integrate The Pines, a Chapel Hill restaurant. He also integrated the Tar Heels basketball team by recruiting Charlie Scott
Charlie Scott
Charles Thomas Scott is an American former professional basketball player. He played two seasons in the now-defunct American Basketball Association and eight seasons in the National Basketball Association .A 6'5" guard/forward from the Laurinburg Institute...
as the university's first black scholarship athlete. In 1965, Smith helped Howard Lee
Howard Nathaniel Lee
Howard Nathaniel Lee is an American politician from the U.S. state of North Carolina.After earning a bachelor's degree from Fort Valley State College and a Master's in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he accepted a position at Duke University in 1966.On May 6,...
, a black graduate student at North Carolina, purchase a home in an all-white neighborhood. He opposed the Vietnam War and, in the early 1980s, famously recorded radio spots to promote a freeze on nuclear weapons. He has been a prominent opponent of the death penalty. In 1998, he appeared at a clemency hearing for a death-row inmate and pointed at then-Governor Jim Hunt
Jim Hunt
James Baxter Hunt Jr. is an American politician who was the 69th and 71st Governor of the state of North Carolina . He is the longest-serving governor in the state's history.-Early life:...
: "You're a murderer. And I'm a murderer. The death penalty makes us all murderers." As head coach, he periodically held North Carolina basketball practices in North Carolina prisons.
While coach, he was recruited by some in the Democratic Party to run for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
against incumbent Jesse Helms
Jesse Helms
Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...
. He declined. But in retirement, he has continued to speak out on issues such as the war in Iraq, death penalty and gay rights. Although a staunch Democrat, Smith did support one of his former players, Republican Richard Vinroot
Richard Vinroot
Richard A. Vinroot is a Republican political figure and attorney from Charlotte, North Carolina. He served as the 52nd Mayor of the City of Charlotte from 1991–1995, and ran unsuccessfully for Governor of North Carolina in 1996, 2000, and 2004.-Early life:The son of a Swedish immigrant, Richard...
, for governor of North Carolina
Governor of North Carolina
The Governor of North Carolina is the chief executive of the State of North Carolina, one of the U.S. states. The current governor is Bev Perdue, North Carolina's first female governor.-Powers:...
in 2000. In 2006, Smith became the spokesperson for Devout Democrats, an inter-faith, grassroots political action committee
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
designed to convince religious Americans to vote for Democrats. Smith was featured in an ad that ran in newspapers across North Carolina and was featured in an Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
article. On October 13, 2008, he endorsed Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's candidacy for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
.
Coaching tree
One hallmark of Smith's tenure as coach was the concept of the "Carolina Family," the idea that anyone associated with the program was entitled to the support of others. Many of his former players and coaching staff became successful basketball coaches and executives, including:- Larry BrownLarry Brown (basketball)Lawrence Harvey "Larry" Brown is an American basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as head coach of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Bobcats....
, a former Smith player, the former coach of the New York KnicksNew York KnicksThe New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
, San Antonio SpursSan Antonio SpursThe San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
, Indiana PacersIndiana PacersThe Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
, Philadelphia 76ersPhiladelphia 76ersThe Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
, Charlotte BobcatsCharlotte BobcatsThe Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA...
; winner of championships in both the NBA (Detroit PistonsDetroit PistonsThe Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
) and college (Kansas) - Scott CherryScott CherryScott Cherry is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at High Point University. He replaced Bart Lundy.-High School Career:...
, former Smith player and former assistant coach at Middle Tennessee State UniversityMiddle Tennessee State UniversityMiddle Tennessee State University, commonly abbreviated as MTSU, is a public university located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States....
. Current head coach at High Point UniversityHigh Point UniversityHigh Point University is a private liberal arts university in High Point, North Carolina, USA, affiliated with the United Methodist Church.- Beginnings :...
, also former assistant coach at Western Kentucky UniversityWestern Kentucky UniversityWestern Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was formally founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier....
and South CarolinaSouth Carolina Gamecocks men's basketballThe South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team represents the University of South Carolina and competes in the Southeastern Conference. The program attained national prominence under hall of fame coach Frank McGuire, posting a 205-65 record and three NCAA Sweet 16 appearances from 1967-1976...
. - Billy CunninghamBilly CunninghamWilliam John "Billy" Cunningham is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid.- Beginnings :...
, coach of the 1983 NBA champion Philadelphia 76ersPhiladelphia 76ersThe Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA... - Matt Doherty, former Smith player. Former Notre DameNotre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketballThe Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. The program competes in the Big East Conference of NCAA Division I. The school holds two national championships in...
coach, North Carolina coach, and Florida Atlantic UniversityFlorida Atlantic UniversityFlorida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...
coach. Now coaches at Southern Methodist UniversitySMU MustangsThe SMU Mustangs is the name of the athletic teams representing Southern Methodist University. The Mustangs participate in the NCAA's Division I as a member of Conference USA. In 2005, SMU accepted an invitation to the Western Division of Conference USA, and left the Western Athletic Conference...
. - Eddie FoglerEddie FoglerEddie Fogler was a college basketball player from the University of North Carolina from 1967-1970 where he played as a point guard on two NCAA Final Four teams. Fogler was an All-City guard from Flushing High School in Flushing, New York....
, former National Coach of the Year at both VanderbiltVanderbilt Commodores men's basketballThe Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team represents Vanderbilt University in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference . The Commodores have won three SEC regular season titles . They have competed in ten NCAA Tournaments, making it to the Elite Eight once and the Sweet 16 six times...
and South CarolinaSouth Carolina Gamecocks men's basketballThe South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team represents the University of South Carolina and competes in the Southeastern Conference. The program attained national prominence under hall of fame coach Frank McGuire, posting a 205-65 record and three NCAA Sweet 16 appearances from 1967-1976...
, also former head coach at Wichita State UniversityWichita State Shockers men's basketballThe Wichita State Shockers basketball team is the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. They currently compete in the Missouri Valley Conference... - Phil Ford, former assistant coach of the Charlotte BobcatsCharlotte BobcatsThe Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA...
- Bill GuthridgeBill GuthridgeBill Guthridge is a retired American college basketball coach.Guthridge initially gained recognition after serving for 30 years as Dean Smith's assistant at the University of North Carolina. Following Dean Smith's retirement in 1997, Guthridge served as head coach of the Tar Heels for three seasons...
, former Dean Smith's assistant coach and former UNC Head Coach, former National Coach of the year at UNCUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States... - Dave Hanners, former assistant coach of the Charlotte BobcatsCharlotte BobcatsThe Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA...
- Michael JordanMichael JordanMichael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
, majority owner of the Charlotte BobcatsCharlotte BobcatsThe Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA... - George KarlGeorge KarlGeorge Matthew Karl is a former National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association player. He is the current head coach of the Denver Nuggets. On December 10, 2010 he became the seventh coach in NBA history to record 1,000 wins.-Biography:Karl was born in Penn Hills,...
, a point guard under Smith, currently head coach of the Denver NuggetsDenver NuggetsThe Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams... - John KuesterJohn KuesterJohn Dewitt Kuester, Jr. is an American basketball coach.He played in the NBA from 1977 to 1980 and then coached in the college ranks before moving on to the NBA sidelines as an assistant. Kuester was named head coach of the Detroit Pistons on July 9, 2009...
, head coach of the Detroit PistonsDetroit PistonsThe Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where... - Mitch KupchakMitch KupchakMitchell "Mitch" Kupchak is a retired American basketball player and current general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers since the 2000–01 NBA season after predecessor Jerry West moved to the Memphis Grizzlies organization....
, general manager of the Los Angeles LakersLos Angeles LakersThe Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association... - Jeff LeboJeff Lebo-External links:*** @ basketballreference.com...
, head coach at East CarolinaEast Carolina PiratesThe East Carolina Pirates are the intercollegiate sports teams representing East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. All varsity-level sports teams sponsored by the university compete in NCAA Division I as a member of Conference USA...
and former head coach at Tennessee Tech, Chattanooga, and AuburnAuburn TigersAuburn Tigers is the name given to Auburn University athletic teams. The University is a member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 19 varsity teams in 13 sports:* Men's sports** Baseball** Basketball... - Doug MoeDoug MoeDouglas Edwin Moe is an American professional basketball coach. He is most closely associated with the Denver Nuggets franchise....
, former NBA coach (Denver Nuggets) and former NBA coach of the year award - Mike O'KorenMike O'KorenMike O'Koren is a retired American professional basketball player, a former associate head coach of the Washington Wizards from 2005 to 2008, and a former assistant coach with the New Jersey Nets from 1999 to 2003. He was selected by the New Jersey Nets in the 1st round of the 1980 NBA Draft...
, assistant head coach of the Philadelphia 76ersPhiladelphia 76ersThe Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA... - Buzz PetersonBuzz PetersonRobert Bower "Buzz" Peterson, Jr. is the current head coach of the UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball team. Peterson was the Head Coach of the Tennessee Volunteers for four years before being fired in 2005. He previously coached a second stint at Appalachian State--he coached the 2009–10...
, currently head coach at UNC-Wilmington. Most recently Director of Player Personnel of the Charlotte BobcatsCharlotte BobcatsThe Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA...
; previously head coach at Coastal CarolinaCoastal Carolina UniversityCoastal Carolina University is an independent, state-supported, liberal arts university in Conway, South Carolina, USA, located eight miles west of Myrtle Beach. Founded in 1954, Coastal became an independent university in 1993. The University enrolls approximately 8,300 students on its campus...
, TennesseeTennessee Volunteers basketballThe Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represents the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee in NCAA men's basketball competition. The Volunteers currently compete in the Southeastern Conference...
, TulsaTulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketballThe University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane basketball team represents the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team participates in Conference USA. The men’s team is currently coached by Doug Wojcik....
and Appalachian StateAppalachian State MountaineersThe Appalachian State Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, United States. The Mountaineers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and have been a member of the Southern Conference since 1972....
. - King RiceKing RiceKing Rice is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at Monmouth University. Rice replaced Dave Calloway as head coach of the Hawks on March 29, 2011. Previously, Rice was also the head coach of the Bahamas national basketball team from 2001 to 2004...
, current head coach at MonmouthMonmouth UniversityMonmouth University is a private university located in West Long Branch, New Jersey, United States.Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956, and later Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its charter.... - Tony ShaverTony ShaverTony Shaver is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at The College of William & Mary...
, head coach at The College of William & MaryWilliam & Mary Tribe men's basketballThe William & Mary Tribe men's basketball team represents The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia in NCAA Division I competition. The school's team competes in the Colonial Athletic Association and play their home games in Kaplan Arena.... - Pat Sullivan, assistant coach of the Detroit PistonsDetroit PistonsThe Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
- Roy WilliamsRoy Williams (coach)Roy Williams is head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of North Carolina. After averaging nearly an 80% win percentage in 15 seasons at the University of Kansas, he became the eighteenth head coach at North Carolina when he replaced Matt Doherty in 2003...
, former University of Kansas coach and North Carolina assistant, current North Carolina head coach
Head coaching record
See also
- List of college men's basketball coaches with 600 wins
- List of NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coach
- List of NCAA Men's Division I Elite Eight appearances by coach
Further reading
- Dean Smith, John Kilgo, Sally Jenkins: A Coach’s Life. My 40 years in college basketball. New York 2002, ISBN 0-375-75880-1
- Dean Smith, Gerald D. Bell, John Kilgo, Roy Williams: The Carolina Way: Leadership Lessons from a Life in Coaching, ISBN 0-14-303464-2
- Dean Smith: Basketball: Multiple Offense and Defense, ISBN 0-205-29119-8
- David Scott: Quotable Dean Smith: Words of Insight, Inspiration, and Intense Preparation by and about Dean Smith, the Dean of College Basketball Coaches., ISBN 1-931249-27-X
- Art Chansky: Dean's Domain: The Inside Story of Dean Smith and His College Basketball Empire, ISBN 1-56352-540-2
- Art Chansky: The Dean's List: A Celebration of Tar Heel Basketball and Dean Smith, ISBN 0-446-52007-1
- Ken Rosenthal Dean Smith: A Tribute, ISBN 1-58261-003-7