Athletes - Dean Smith

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Dean Smith

	Athletes - Dean Smith

Dean Edwards Smith (b. February 28, 1931) was the head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of North Carolina from 1961 to 1997.

He has been recognized as one of the greatest coaches in American sports history. He currently holds the record for most victories by an NCAA Division I men's basketball coach, finishing his career with 879 wins against 254 losses (a .776 winning percentage). His teams won two national titles and appeared in 11 Final Fours.

Background

Smith was born in Emporia, Kansas. His parents were public school teachers, and he was a four-year letter winner playing basketball at Topeka High School, including being named all-state as a senior.

He attended the University of Kansas on an academic scholarship and played varsity basketball, varsity baseball, and freshman football. He was a member of the Kansas teams that won the national championship in 1952 and finished second in 1953. His coach at Kansas was the legendary Forrest "Phog" Allen, who had turn learned the game from its inventor, James Naismith. After graduation, Smith was an assistant coach at Kansas in the 1953-54 season.

He then served a stint in the United States Air Force in Germany, then worked at the United States Air Force Academy as head coach of its baseball and golf teams. In 1958, North Carolina coach Frank McGuire asked Smith to join his staff as an assistant coach. Smith served under McGuire for three years until 1961, when McGuire was hired away to coach the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA. University chancellor William Aycock asked Smith, then 30 years old, to become the new head coach.

Years at North Carolina

Smith was not successful at first, going 8-9 in his first season, 1961-62. In 1965, he was famously burned in effigy on the university campus after a disappointing loss to Wake Forest. But Smith quickly turned the program into a consistent success. His first major successes came in the late 1960s, when his teams won three consecutive regular-season and tournament championships in the Atlantic Coast Conference, arguably the country's most competitive, and went to three straight Final Fours.

Among the accomplishments of Smith's teams:

Two national championships (1982, 1993)
11 Final Fours (second only to John Wooden
's 12)
22 seasons with at least 25 wins
30 seasons with at least 20 wins, including 27 consecutive
17 regular-season ACC titles, plus 33 straight years finishing in the conference's top three
13 ACC tournament titles
27 NCAA tournament appearances, including 23 consecutive

Smith was known for running a clean, model program with no hint of ethical improprieties. And unlike at many major college programs, where academics are sometimes sacrified in the name of athletic success, 96% of Smith's players graduated.

His players were often successful in the NBA. North Carolina has produced more NBA players than any other college program; five of Smith's players have been Rookie of the Year in either the NBA or ABA. Among Smith's most successful players in the NBA are Michael Jordan, Larry Brown, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Phil Ford, Bob McAdoo, Billy Cunningham, Kenny Smith, Walter Davis, Jerry Stackhouse, and Rasheed Wallace.

In 1976, Smith coached the United States team to a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Montreal. Smith was selected after the United States' controversial second-place finish at the 1972 games.

Coaching style

Smith-coached teams varied in style, depending on the players Smith had available. But they generally featured a fast-break style, a half-court offense that emphasized the passing game, and an aggressive trapping defense that produced turnovers and easy baskets.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Dean Smith ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Dean Smith; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Athletes - Dean Smith

Background

Years at North Carolina

Coaching style

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay