Old story of Dean Smith shows how great of a person he was

An anecdote about Dean Smith from a 2014 Washington Post story proves what a special human being he was. Smith passed away at 83 on Saturday.

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Dean Smith was one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history. But he might have been an even greater person.

The latest proof: an anecdote from a 2014 Washington Post piece written by John Feinstein that re-surfaced on Reddit on Sunday.

"There’s one story that — to me — defines him. I’ve told it in the past, but it bears re-telling. In 1981, Smith very grudgingly agreed to cooperate with me on a profile for this newspaper. He kept insisting I should write about his players, but I said I had written about them. I wanted to write about him. He finally agreed.One of the people I interviewed for the story was Rev. Robert Seymour, who had been Smith’s pastor at the Binkley Baptist Church since 1958, when he first arrived in Chapel Hill. Seymourtold me a story about how upset Smith was to learn that Chapel Hill’s restaurants were still segregated. He and Seymour came up with an idea: Smith would walk into a restaurant with a black member of the church.“You have to remember,” Reverend Seymour said. “Back then, he wasn’t Dean Smith. He was an assistant coach. Nothing more.”Smith agreed and went to a restaurant where management knew him. He and his companion sat down and were served. That was the beginning of desegregation in Chapel Hill.When I circled back to Smith and asked him to tell me more about that night, he shot me an angry look. “Who told you about that?” he asked.“Reverend Seymour,” I said.“I wish he hadn’t done that.”“Why? You should be proud of doing something like that.”He leaned forward in his chair and in a very quiet voice said something I’ve never forgotten: “You should never be proud of doing what’s right. You should just do what’s right."

The whole story is remarkable, but the fact that Smith didn’t even want to take credit for his special act because to him it wasn’t special, but rather simply the right thing for him to do, gives an outstanding look into Smith’s character.

It’s stories like these that really show us why Smith is such an important figure in college basketball; he was a pioneer, both on and off the court.

His impact will forever be felt.

During his 36-year career at UNC, Smith went 879-254, made 11 Final Four appearances and won two national championships.

This old story of Dean Smith shows how remarkable of a person he was

By Sam Richmond | Feb 8, 2015

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