The Duke and North Carolina men's basketball teams paid tribute to the late Dean Smith prior to last night's game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, as the teams "gathered at center court, held hands and knelt for around 10 seconds of silence." Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, "Dean’s passing really affected all of us. I thought the way we did it was the best. ... I thought that was good, real touching. You could see the kids, they were moved by it.” UNC coach Roy Williams: "I think it shows the class this rivalry has" (FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER, 2/19). Cameron, "as loud both before and after as it always is when North Carolina is in the building, was utterly still" for the tribute (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 2/19).
Meanwhile, a pregame ceremony to honor Jerry Tarkanian prior to the Boise State-UNLV game "was class and hit the mark." The game drew a crowd of 13,675, "a majority of the fans dressed in black." In addition to the pregame tribute, the "Rebels wore black uniforms and fans waved commemorative 'Tark' towels" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 2/19). Many area casinos dimmed their lights starting at 10:30pm PT, and the "Luxor's heaven-sent beam of light appeared to be the first to go" (AP, 2/18).
