In poor health for the last ten years--Alzheimer's Disease--Dean can now rest in peace.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... ies-age-83

Indeed. Sad to wake to this... this morning. It was a privilege to have known him and to have worked on his basketball show.

Was a positive influence on lots of lives.

RIP Dean

Great Coach, better man. Whether you pulled for his team or not, you had to respect how he did his job. He was a teacher first, wins were secondary. He was not as intense (or curse as much) as K, wasn't as gregarious or personable as V, not as stoic as a the wizard of Westwood, but always competitive, always coaching and probably the biggest innovator in the game. RIP.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... -gentleman

Many years ago before I became a Mountaineer I was a die-hard Davidson fan due to my dad working there. I lived and died with Lefty and the Wildcats. I still do this day see my 27-2 'Cats lose again to the tar holes in the Eastern Regional Finals. Everyone in the gym and the nation knew Charlie Scott would take game-winner.

I loathe everything that is unc-cheat but I'm smart enough to admit that Dean Smith was a basketball genius whose innovations caused changes to made to the game. His record on the court was phenomenal and the accolades off the court will be remembered as well.

Dean Smith was one who truly earned the title "Coach". Our world is richer for his having been here; the coaching world is poorer for his absence.

Even though I am not a Carolina fan - Dean would absolutely be on my Mt. Rushmore of college basketball coaches --- I always admired how all of his former players cared so much for him and him for them ---

After the 1984 season when many of the players had graduated or gone pro, Dean Smith brought back for a fifth year a team manager. Yes, a manager. The idea was that there needed to be continuity in the upperclassmen whether they be on the court or not.

The manager he brought back was a Morehead scholar who had also graduated in 1984. That manager didn't have the financial ability to pay for an extra year of school, so Dean Smith used one of his basketball scholarships ... on a manager.

BTW, that manager got an entirely different undergraduate major completed in that one year ... in economics.

Yes, Dean Smith was one of a kind.

DaphneUrquhart wrote:BTW, that manager got an entirely different undergraduate major completed in that one year ... in economics.

Sounds like the the kind of thing that could only be done at UNC.

TheMoody1 wrote:

DaphneUrquhart wrote:BTW, that manager got an entirely different undergraduate major completed in that one year ... in economics.

Sounds like the the kind of thing that could only be done at UNC.

Call it how you want to. If you're ever in Asheville, I'll be happy to let you meet this guy and go a few rounds of the intellectual challenge of your choosing.

Note the winky.

DaphneUrquhart wrote:

TheMoody1 wrote:

DaphneUrquhart wrote:BTW, that manager got an entirely different undergraduate major completed in that one year ... in economics.

Sounds like the the kind of thing that could only be done at UNC.

Call it how you want to. If you're ever in Asheville, I'll be happy to let you meet this guy and go a few rounds of the intellectual challenge of your choosing.

Can I come? I love a lively debate!

APPARJ wrote:

DaphneUrquhart wrote:

TheMoody1 wrote:

DaphneUrquhart wrote:BTW, that manager got an entirely different undergraduate major completed in that one year ... in economics.

Sounds like the the kind of thing that could only be done at UNC.

Call it how you want to. If you're ever in Asheville, I'll be happy to let you meet this guy and go a few rounds of the intellectual challenge of your choosing.

Can I come? I love a lively debate!

I know who she is referring to. You should come, world's shortest debate...YOU lose!

WVAPPeer wrote:Even though I am not a Carolina fan - Dean would absolutely be on my Mt. Rushmore of college basketball coaches --- I always admired how all of his former players cared so much for him and him for them ---

I coached a young man in high school (football and baseball) who went to UNC on a track scholarship and ended up making the basketball team - never got to play much but he was on the team - I ran into him a few times later on and he told me how Coach Smith had helped him get a coaching job, how he had helped him with several personal matters, etc., and my guy was like the 12th man on the bench but that made NO DIFFERENCE to Coach Smith ---

App91 wrote:

APPARJ wrote:

DaphneUrquhart wrote:

TheMoody1 wrote:

DaphneUrquhart wrote:BTW, that manager got an entirely different undergraduate major completed in that one year ... in economics.

Sounds like the the kind of thing that could only be done at UNC.

Call it how you want to. If you're ever in Asheville, I'll be happy to let you meet this guy and go a few rounds of the intellectual challenge of your choosing.

Can I come? I love a lively debate!

I know who she is referring to. You should come, world's shortest debate...YOU lose!

I would not lose. I would watch.

There is a time and place to crack on the academic practices of the Chapel Hill campus. The time is not an issue, but this is definitely not the place.

RIP to a classy human and great basketball coach.

Regardless of your opinion of the holes, you have to give props to the Dean. Growing up in NC in the 70's, I remember the Big Four Tourneys, the North-South Doubleheaders in the old Charlotte Coliseum, carrying the transistor radio to school to listen to the ACC Tournament when only the tournament winner advanced to the NCAAs. Dean Smith undoubtedly had the greatest impact on North Carolina sports-period- during that time. Until I'm shown otherwise, I'll always consider the Dean as a man of integrity- something sorely missing in Chapel Hill after his departure from coaching.
Rest in Peace.