Randy Smith: Remembering Dean Smith

College basketball lost one of its true icons this past weekend. Former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith passed away peacefully at the age of 83 on Saturday following a long battle with Alzheimer's. Most everyone knows that Coach Smith was an icon. At one time, he was the winningest college basketball coach in history, breaking the previous mark held by Adolph Rupp. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times and he was always a pleasant person during interviews.

He brought his Tar Heel team to Chattanooga to dedicate the UTC Arena in December of 1982. Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and of course our own Jimmy Braddock edged the Mocs in a close game. What a lot of people don't realize is this: Coach Smith didn't bring his team to Chattanooga just to dedicate the Roundhouse, he brought them here because it was Jimmy Braddock's hometown. He always tried to get a game in or near the hometown of his players, and this philosophy has been copied more than once by other coaches.

He may have been the best innovator the game of basketball has ever known. His coaching tree looks like a "Who's Who" of legendary coaches. (Roy Williams, Larry Brown, and George Karl to name a few.)  To me however, Dean Smith's legacy is much more than the wins, final fours, and national championships. It's the amazing 96% graduation rate of his players at UNC. He taught them more than just being good basketball players; he also taught them how to be good citizens.

In the 1983 season, the Mocs faced the Tar Heels again, this time in the Carmichael Auditorium. I was working at WDEF TV at the time, and we wanted to televise the game as part of our Mocs television package. I sent a letter to North Carolina, requesting television space, as well as a 7:37 tip-time and four TV time-outs per half. (The standard that is still common in college basketball today.) I received a phone call from the sports information staff saying they would love to have us televise the game back to Chattanooga, but Coach Smith would not allow us to have TV time-outs. They gave no reason, but after a few days I figured it out.

Carmichael Auditorium was not air-conditioned. Early in the season, before the really cold weather hit, it would get very warm in that old creaky building. The Mocs had a great team once again, but they were not a deep team at all. They would substitute very little in the game, and Coach Smith did not want to give the Mocs any advantage at all when it came to catching their breath or resting during time outs. In other words, the fewer time-outs in the game, the better it was for the Tar Heels.

After the game as we were packing up to leave, a member of the sports information staff approached us as we were packing things up. He said Coach Smith wanted to see us in his office before we left. I couldn't imagine what he wanted, but when Dean Smith requested your presence you generally obliged. When we arrived at his office door, he got up from his desk and shook my hand as he asked how everything went. I said it was great and I thanked him for his hospitality. He apologized for our broadcast position in the rafters at Carmichael, as well as his refusal to allow us to have TV time-outs. I told him I understood why, and I didn't blame him one bit. He smiled, shook my hand and did a television interview with me; one that was quite flattering to the Mocs and head coach Murray Arnold.

I came away from the game with even more respect for Coach Dean Smith. At that time in my life, I had become a true college basketball junkie, and Dean Smith played a huge part in that.  

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