Legendary Univ. of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith died last night at the age of 83. Smith for several years had been suffering from a “neurocognitive disorder that affected his memory.” The Basketball HOFer retired in ’97 after a 36-year career that saw him set what was then the all-time NCAA D-I wins record with 879, but few people “left a greater impact on the game than Smith, whose innovations and ideas were copied by coaches from recreation leagues to the NBA” (NEWSOBSERVER.com, 2/8).
Smith in ’66 recruited Charlie Scott, who became the “first African-Americans to be given an athletic scholarship at UNC.” He also joined with a “local pastor to help integrate a Chapel Hill restaurant at the height of the civil rights movement.” More than 96% of those who played for Smith graduated (USATODAY.com, 2/8).
Current UNC coach Roy Williams issued a statement that read in part, "We lost one of our greatest ambassadors for college basketball for the way in which a program should be run. We lost a man of the highest integrity who did so many things off the court to help make the world a better place to live in." Hornets Owner Michael Jordan, who played for Smith from '81-84, said in a statement, "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. ... We’ve lost a great man who had an incredible impact on players, his staff and the entire UNC family” (THE DAILY).
Tributes and remembrances of Smith poured in this morning on Twitter, where his passing was one of the top trending topics in the U.S. at presstime. Here are a sampling of those thoughts:
*The Nation’s Dave Zirin: “Dean Smith never feared offending people he found to be politically offensive. He had principles that stood above public relations.”
* SB Nation’s Tom Ziller: “Dean Smith brought Charlie Scott to Chapel Hill the season after Texas Western beat Kentucky. Imagine THAT environment.”
* Columnist Kevin Blackistone: “Forget basketball. Remember he desegregated Chapel Hill, protested the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons and the death penalty.”
* SI's Seth Davis: "The solace I take in this news is that a younger generation is going to learn a lot Dean Smith. His civil rights record for starters."
* ESPN's Fran Fraschilla: "Dean Smith may have had most impact on coaching the game of basketball as anyone in history. He was true innovator & thinker."
