Former and current players from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were saddened to learn of the passing of legendary coach Dean Smith. They, along with many others, mourned the loss today.
The sports world has lost one of its most iconic figures today. The man who brought Michael Jordan to his first title on the national stage, won 879 games and two NCAA basketball championships, and was the face of his school’s basketball program for decades, has passed at 83 years of age. Today, many former and current players from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill mourned the loss on social media.
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Smith, whose teams won the 1982 and 1993 NCAA men’s tournaments, leaves behind an undiminished legacy. His 879 wins were, at the time of his retirement, the most in Division I history. The list of players and coaches that have stemmed from his guidance is nearly unmatched by any coach in the history of the sport. The man mentored Michael Jordan, Larry Brown, James Worthy, Bob McAdoo, and Vince Carter among many others. His coaching tree consists of Roy Williams, George Karl, and the aforementioned Brown, among several others. The basketball arena on UNC’s campus is named in his honor.
And yet, his merits extended to matters off the court as well. Something that perhaps speaks to the quality of character Smith contained; his players had an astounding 96.6 percent graduation rate. Rarely did they leave early for the NBA Draft under him, and that should be a very telling mark. In 1998, ESPN presented him with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, and in 2006, he was part of the initial inductees into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2013, Barack Obama awarded Smith with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, “the highest civilian award” possible within the United States.
H/T For The Win via USA Today
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