I never met Coach Smith and didn’t play basketball. I played baseball in college and professionally. When I returned home I started Coaching. I wrote Coach Smith and I received a handwritten letter in return. He did not know me, but he took the time to write me back, personally. That’s a Great Man. A Coaches Coach. A better Human Being! So grateful to have just a moment of his time!
Dean Smith you were a great man and great coach for North Carolina you coached Michael Jordan one of the greatest NBA players ever now we missed you so much and we love you Dean Smith now and forever man
I'm a UNC fan. Both my parents are UNC class of '83. But I have tremendous respect for coach K. As much as I hate Duke, coach K is a goat level coach right up there with Dean Smith.
I absolutely LOVE Dean Smith and everything he stood for. Any African American who doesn't support the "Carolina Way" and the Dean Smith way should be ashamed of themselves. If you are a stand out BBall player and have the talent to play for UNC why not? Why go to DUKE or any other Jim Crow supported school in the ACC.
@@4liferssslockedin You are exactly right. Coach Smith was a part of change at UNC before change was actually accepted. However, your accessment of the racism in the South today and in the past still exist. I am an advocate for HBCU for African American athletes, however if you have to attend a PWI it might as well be UNC to start. Thank you for your response.
Thats unfair. It was across the board back then, Dean wasn't the only one trying to change the racist ways. Lefty at Maryland was for letting black athletes in, so was Norm Sloan at State and many more. Dean Smith had the bigger platform so you hear his story more. Duke was anything but "jim crow" they had NYers which was not accepted in the racist ACC but they have very strict academic requirements, i'm a white guy and i couldn't have met all the requirements at Duke, and its not from lack of intelligence, just that my family was poor so i couldn't go to private schools or pay their high tuition
@@4liferssslockedin i'm sayibg, he had the "clout" to do it, others would've simply been fired, its not like they're racist because they couldn't. They have families to feed
no wonder billy packer said the smith center home of the UNC Tar Heels he said "When you're not from North Carolina they call it the smith center but when you're in North Carolina you call it the Dean Dome"
Billy Packer is a babbling idiot. Mentioning him here makes no sense. I'm from North Carolina and was a student at UNC when the Smith Center opened. I knew from the start (like it was mentioned in this segment) that Smith never wanted the building to reflect his name and insisted that it be called the Student Activities Center. As University administrators became uncomfortable with the students referring to the building as "The SAC" and even sporting T-shirts that read: The Heels Do It Better In The SAC!", they went back to Smith and TOLD him that the building would be re-named 'The Dean E Smith Center". Dean held firm and said, "Well, we'll only use my name IF the students are also included, so they compromised and it became named "The Dean E Smith Student Activities Center", and the University's own administration threw Smith a curveball behind his back by casually referring to it as "The Dean Dome" to a local writer. From there, it exploded. Ironically, the local writer who first coined the nickname in print was contacted by Smith, and Smith joked, "calling it 'The Dean Dome' makes it sound like I'm BALD!"; after sharing a laugh, the writer told Smith he'd never refer to the arena as "The Dean Dome" again, but said "I doubt I'll be able to influence others". To this day, I consider it a measure of spotting a TRUE UNC fan versus a "newbie fan" or a "blowhard fan" by how they accurately or inaccurately they handle two details. First, the arena is NOT named "The Dean Dome", therefore it should not be called that or referred to that when those words unsettled Smith and in his opinion... dishonored him. Secondly, the school's nickname is "Tar Heels". Two words. Not "Tarheels".
I don’t know if I heard him or a player say it, but it was something to the effect of, “ make the next right play”. That has stuck with me for over 20 years.
@@4liferssslockedin exactly. UCLA pretty much walked to the NCAA championship game every year. So they'd only have to win one challenging game (championship game)
UNC two championships with Coach Smith wins where a pass to player on opposite team, and a player calls a time out when he did not have one to call. Go Indiana!
I was a UNC fan in the 70's and early 80's but when Coach K began taking his team to final fours, I became a Duke fan. Of course, when those two played, I was for Duke, but I never "hated" UNC or Dean Smith. I rooted UNC when I would watch them play other teams. This band wagon of Coach K haters has always upset me, I am sure that Dean Smith would not be pleased with the UNC fans who "boooed" Coach K and offered obscenities the last time Coach K stepped into the Dean Smith Student Activity Center. I would put Dean Smith in the top 3 of college basketball coaches....he was a great coach and a great person for sure, but so WAS Coach K!
Dean Smith made basketball suck so much they had to make a rule to stop him. Even the best coach ever, John Wooden said he over coached. AND, he was the only guy that could stop MJ. His own facking player.
@@4liferssslockedin Agreed. Bobby Knight said Wooden didn't have to recruit because he had a "supporter" who paid even NY kids like Alcindor 3500 miles away to go west.
The best team lost with the best player in history because of his ego. There's no mention of his blowing the Indiana game by benching MJ, thus moving him on to the pro's, who could blame him after being constantly oppressed by Smith.
History, and you, will understand better by and by that your comments here are ignorant and also that you ha e no appreciati8nof what it means to be a sportsmanan. So, .mY God. Bless your soul
You sir are a complete idiot. If you knew what you were talking about you would know Jordon Fouled out of that game and time on the bench was because of that. Dean never oppressed Jordon he taught him team basketball in which k when Jordon went back to that in the pros it produced 6 championships .
I never met Coach Smith and didn’t play basketball. I played baseball in college and professionally. When I returned home I started Coaching. I wrote Coach Smith and I received a handwritten letter in return. He did not know me, but he took the time to write me back, personally. That’s a Great Man. A Coaches Coach. A better Human Being! So grateful to have just a moment of his time!
A great coach but more than that he was a great human being. A shining example to us all on how to treat our fellow man. RIP Coach Smith
Dean Smith, one great ,fine human being.
Dean Smith you were a great man and great coach for North Carolina you coached Michael Jordan one of the greatest NBA players ever now we missed you so much and we love you Dean Smith now and forever man
Great coach. Better human being. The way the players still speak of him with such love and reverence is truly amazing.
Go Heels fan for 45 years RIP dean smith
Great Human on and off the court.
A Great man
A Great coach
Lots of Respect!
From a Dookie!
I'm a UNC fan. Both my parents are UNC class of '83. But I have tremendous respect for coach K. As much as I hate Duke, coach K is a goat level coach right up there with Dean Smith.
A great coach. A great man.
I absolutely LOVE Dean Smith and everything he stood for. Any African American who doesn't support the "Carolina Way" and the Dean Smith way should be ashamed of themselves. If you are a stand out BBall player and have the talent to play for UNC why not? Why go to DUKE or any other Jim Crow supported school in the ACC.
@@4liferssslockedin You are exactly right. Coach Smith was a part of change at UNC before change was actually accepted. However, your accessment of the racism in the South today and in the past still exist. I am an advocate for HBCU for African American athletes, however if you have to attend a PWI it might as well be UNC to start. Thank you for your response.
Thats unfair. It was across the board back then, Dean wasn't the only one trying to change the racist ways. Lefty at Maryland was for letting black athletes in, so was Norm Sloan at State and many more. Dean Smith had the bigger platform so you hear his story more. Duke was anything but "jim crow" they had NYers which was not accepted in the racist ACC but they have very strict academic requirements, i'm a white guy and i couldn't have met all the requirements at Duke, and its not from lack of intelligence, just that my family was poor so i couldn't go to private schools or pay their high tuition
@@4liferssslockedin i'm sayibg, he had the "clout" to do it, others would've simply been fired, its not like they're racist because they couldn't. They have families to feed
Dean Smith was pure class, coach and a great human being.
no wonder billy packer said the smith center home of the UNC Tar Heels he said "When you're not from North Carolina they call it the smith center but when you're in North Carolina you call it the Dean Dome"
Billy Packer is a babbling idiot. Mentioning him here makes no sense. I'm from North Carolina and was a student at UNC when the Smith Center opened. I knew from the start (like it was mentioned in this segment) that Smith never wanted the building to reflect his name and insisted that it be called the Student Activities Center. As University administrators became uncomfortable with the students referring to the building as "The SAC" and even sporting T-shirts that read: The Heels Do It Better In The SAC!", they went back to Smith and TOLD him that the building would be re-named 'The Dean E Smith Center". Dean held firm and said, "Well, we'll only use my name IF the students are also included, so they compromised and it became named "The Dean E Smith Student Activities Center", and the University's own administration threw Smith a curveball behind his back by casually referring to it as "The Dean Dome" to a local writer. From there, it exploded. Ironically, the local writer who first coined the nickname in print was contacted by Smith, and Smith joked, "calling it 'The Dean Dome' makes it sound like I'm BALD!"; after sharing a laugh, the writer told Smith he'd never refer to the arena as "The Dean Dome" again, but said "I doubt I'll be able to influence others". To this day, I consider it a measure of spotting a TRUE UNC fan versus a "newbie fan" or a "blowhard fan" by how they accurately or inaccurately they handle two details. First, the arena is NOT named "The Dean Dome", therefore it should not be called that or referred to that when those words unsettled Smith and in his opinion... dishonored him. Secondly, the school's nickname is "Tar Heels". Two words. Not "Tarheels".
Wow! What a life this man lived. The memories, the people he affected and taught. Not only a coach of basketball but a coach of life in a lot of ways.
I don’t know if I heard him or a player say it, but it was something to the effect of, “ make the next right play”. That has stuck with me for over 20 years.
Awesome tribute, loved the comment about Mt. Rushmore!
One thing that cannot be denied, North Carolina basketball players that played under Dean are a tight brotherhood.
Greatest Of All Time. Much more than a coach.
thanks for the upload .... go heels
You can find that marker for the spot where the University of North Carolina was born right beside the Market House in Fayetteville North Carolina.
Wow, that is amazing...and I'm a Wolfpack fan🤣
Wonder who were the 4% that didn't graduate ?
He should have won more than two National Championships.
@@4liferssslockedin exactly. UCLA pretty much walked to the NCAA championship game every year. So they'd only have to win one challenging game (championship game)
Dean smith was really the epitome of the democrat party when it was good 50 years ago. not the garbage that exists today.
UNC two championships with Coach Smith wins where a pass to player on opposite team, and a player calls a time out when he did not have one to call. Go Indiana!
We would’ve won both either way especially the Michigan one
I was a UNC fan in the 70's and early 80's but when Coach K began taking his team to final fours, I became a Duke fan. Of course, when those two played, I was for Duke, but I never "hated" UNC or Dean Smith. I rooted UNC when I would watch them play other teams. This band wagon of Coach K haters has always upset me, I am sure that Dean Smith would not be pleased with the UNC fans who "boooed" Coach K and offered obscenities the last time Coach K stepped into the Dean Smith Student Activity Center. I would put Dean Smith in the top 3 of college basketball coaches....he was a great coach and a great person for sure, but so WAS Coach K!
Dean Smith made basketball suck so much they had to make a rule to stop him. Even the best coach ever, John Wooden said he over coached. AND, he was the only guy that could stop MJ. His own facking player.
Funny how they changed the rules and THEN he won his 2 titles ?
Whatever you need to tell yourself so you can sleep at night
@@4liferssslockedin Agreed. Bobby Knight said Wooden didn't have to recruit because he had a "supporter" who paid even NY kids like Alcindor 3500 miles away to go west.
The best team lost with the best player in history because of his ego. There's no mention of his blowing the Indiana game by benching MJ, thus moving him on to the pro's, who could blame him after being constantly oppressed by Smith.
History, and you, will understand better by and by that your comments here are ignorant and also that you ha e no appreciati8nof what it means to be a sportsmanan. So, .mY God. Bless your soul
You sir are a complete idiot. If you knew what you were talking about you would know Jordon Fouled out of that game and time on the bench was because of that. Dean never oppressed Jordon he taught him team basketball in which k when Jordon went back to that in the pros it produced 6 championships .