Seeing all the news and tributes about the death of former North Carolina men’s basketball coach Dean Smith on Saturday started me thinking about the one time he brought his Tar Heels to Chattanooga to play.
It was Dec. 21, 1982, and North Carolina was facing UTC in the new facility known then as the UTC Arena, or Roundhouse as it was also called following a contest.
But the reason such an established basketball program was coming to Chattanooga was not really because of the new arena, but due to the fact that one of North Carolina’s players was former Baylor School standout Jimmy Braddock.
As one of Dean Smith’s many innovative traditions, he would try to play near a player’s hometown at least once in his career.
As it turned out, the game was quite a matchup and was more than just a token visit to a player’s home community.
The UTC basketball team had reached under coach Murray Arnold a new level of success as a Division I team following the great Division II teams under Ron Shumate.
The Mocs had reached the NCAA tournament in 1981, and then beat N.C. State in the 1982 tournament before losing a heartbreaker to Minnesota in the round of 32.
North Carolina, of course, had won the NCAA title in 1982, finally getting the monkey off coach Smith’s back that he could not win the big game.
I was home for the Christmas break during my last year as a student at the University of Georgia, so I wanted to attend. I have still not forgotten dropping by the UTC athletic department, which at the time was in some small building, and purchasing a couple of tickets.
At that time, I was quite familiar with coach Smith and Mr. Braddock. I had watched coach Smith on TV and was aware that his son, Scott Smith, played basketball at McCallie before graduating in 1976. I remember watching in person some of those Baylor-McCallie games – even the B-team ones – and being able to pick out his son because he favored his father, who had a familiar nose and scowl.
While I was familiar with coach Smith’s innovative basketball strategy like the four-corners offense to allow stalling in the days before the shot clock, I would grow to admire him even more as the years passed.
I remember reading his autobiography, “A Coach’s Life,” after he retired and learning such trivial facts that his father, also a coach, had integrated a high school team in Kansas in the 1930s. I also learned that coach Smith battled a smoking addiction for years before quitting, and that he had an administrative assistant who kindly handled a lot of his correspondence.
Overall, the book left me thinking he was such a decent man.
When that game between UTC and North Carolina took place, I was quite familiar with Mr. Braddock’s career. My claim to fame is that Jimmy and I played on the same Baylor ninth-grade team in 1974-75, even though he was the only eighth-grader on it.
Our coach was Gene Etter, and we would practice in Baylor’s original gymnasium, built in 1915.
I was a reserve on that team who played in most of the games, while Mr. Braddock was beginning a sterling career that would result in his starting for the Baylor varsity for four years and even making all-city as a freshman. By the time of his senior year, he was averaging 35 points a game – before the three-point arc.
Like many, I thought he would automatically be a star at North Carolina and was a little surprised he was not even starting as a junior. Of course, I later realized some of his teammates – like Michael Jordan and James Worthy -- were future NBA greats.
But in December 1982, Mr. Braddock had worked his way up to being the starting point guard after Jimmy Black graduated and before Kenny Smith arrived the next year.
This was his year to lead, and he seemed to relish that opportunity in an interview with Stan Crawley of the Chattanooga Times after the team had a practice at the UTC Arena on Monday night before the Tuesday game.
“I do feel like I’m the leader when we’re on the court,” he said.
He also had praises for the new UTC Arena, which the Mocs had officially dedicated for basketball by losing to Don DeVoe’s Tennessee Vols, 55-49, on Dec. 1.
Coach Smith also praised the facility during a walk-through on Monday afternoon. “Oh, yes, this place is a lot nicer than the place where I watched Baylor and McCallie play,” he said, apparently referring to watching
his son, or perhaps Mr. Braddock, play in a post-season tournament game at UTC’s Maclellan Gymnasium.
Coach Smith that Monday night had actually had a rare closed practice, reportedly because he was not happy with the Tar Heels’ 4-3 start on the season after winning the national championship the year before.
The team would go on to make the Elite 8, losing in somewhat of a surprise to my Georgia team in what would be the Bulldogs’ only visit to the Final Four to date.
Besides Braddock, other starters for North Carolina included Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins and future college coaches Matt Doherty and Buzz Peterson. Starters for UTC, which would go on to lose a heart-breaking game to Maryland in the first round of the 1983 NCAA tournament, included Willie White, Gerald Wilkins, Stanford Strickland, Stanley Lawrence and Skip Clark.
In front of a nearly packed house of about 11,000 people, including former coach Ron Shumate, who was now at Southeast Missouri, the fans were treated to quite a game. The Mocs’ Willie White starred in the first half, making eight long shots.
The game remained close until near the end. Jimmy Braddock, playing his new role perfectly, found the great Michael Jordan on a long pass with just about a minute left. Mr. Jordan was also fouled, and his points broke up a tight game. As a result, the Tar Heels were able to pull away late and won, 73-66.
Mr. Jordan would end with an impressive 27 points, continuing to give hints that he was destined for NBA stardom.
Afterward, Mr. Braddock – who had been welcomed back to the arena with a banner from Baylor – was just as pleased with his more supportive role in the victory. He even shook his fists in the air as he excitedly ran off the court, I recall.
“I don’t know if any dreams came true,” Mr. Braddock told Times’ sports writer Andy Daffron of his return to his hometown. “But definitely I was thrilled to have won the game.”
And the legendary coach Smith was pleased for Mr. Braddock, approaching him after the media interviews were over.
“Merry Christmas, Jimmy,” he said. “I’m happy for you. You looked poised tonight. Congratulations.”
Jcshearer2@comcast.net