Sunday Mourning: UNC's Dean Smith passes way

Legendary UNC basketball coach Dean Smith passed away Saturday night in Chapel Hill at age 83.

As a diehard Wolfpack fan, member of the ABC Club and a child of the 70’s and 80’s… Norman Sloan and later Jim Valvano were my guys. However, I am not ashamed to admit that Dean Smith was the man.

There were many a times Coach Smith sent me to bed in tears or whining about Tarheel luck. I witnessed too many games when Carolina was down and out, yet somehow managed to miraculously pull out the victory. Whatever the cause, I can testify that the Tarheel mystique was real…and Dean Smith was the mastermind. My school friends like Jake and Tommy, Danny and…hell most everyone I knew were Tarheel fans largely because of Dean Smith.

In 36 years as UNC coach, Smith took the Tarheels to 23 straight NCAA tournaments (27 overall), 11 Final Fours, won 2 National titles and 879 career wins. I remember a ridiculous stat at one time where his teams had not finished below 1st or 2nd place in the ACC for a decade or two. Just try to repeat that feat today.

The old joke that Dean was the only man who ever kept Michael Jordan under 20 points a game was funny and true. However, it spoke volumes about the man and his system. No one person was above the team. I used to cringe and marvel at the same time how UNC players would always point to and recognize an assist from a teammate. It was the Carolina way.

Sunday Mourning: UNC’s Dean Smith dead at age 83

By A. Zach Williams | Feb 8, 2015