Remembering Dean Smith, a basketball legend

VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - There weren't too many people in Chapel Hill singing the praises of Dean Smith 50 years ago, when the University of North Carolina basketball coach was in the early years of his career.

Smith, who passed away last week at the age of 83, was a giant in his profession who was revered in the United States, Europe and the rest of the world.

Smith coached Phil Ford at UNC and in the USA's gold-medal winning team at the 1976 Olympics

He was not much loved or admired in 1965, though.

Carolina were plodding their way through a fourth straight difficult season under Smith when some students at the university decided they had had enough.

After a loss to Wake Forest on 7 January of that year, students made a dummy of Smith and hung it in effigy not far from Woollen Gym, knowing the coach and his players would see it when their team bus returned to Chapel Hill.

Tar Heel star Billy Cunningham and Billy Galantai got off the bus when it pulled up outside of Woollen, where the team played its games, marched up to the effigy and pulled it down.

Smith later wrote of the dummy: "I could tell it was me because of its long nose." 

That is one of my favorite stories about Smith, that rocky start that he survived.

Cunningham and Galantai were among the first of many players to develop a strong relationship with Smith.

Many a star was devoted to him, including James Worthy and Michael Jordan. There were also the not-so-famous members of the team like Timo Makkonen, a center from Finland who only got into games when victory was in hand, players that gained a lot simply by being on the roster.

The three were members of Smith's first NCAA title-winning side in 1982.

I called Makkonen, who lives and works in Connecticut, this past week and asked him about his coach.

"He (Smith) definitely was a special person in my life," Makkonen told me.

"Obviously, as a young man from Finland, it was probably the best experience that any basketball player or human being could hope for."

Makkonen says he was lucky to have been a member of Smith's program and fortunate to have had some great teammates.

He also said: "It was a very good learning experience, not just from a basketball standpoint, but also preparing for adult life."

Smith interacted with students on campus that weren't on the team, too. For those who had chance encounters with him, he was like a teacher. Smith might ask how their studies were going and encourage them to keep everything in perspective.

"OBVIOUSLY, AS A YOUNG MAN FROM FINLAND, IT WAS PROBABLY THE BEST EXPERIENCE THAT ANY BASKETBALL PLAYER OR HUMAN BEING COULD HOPE FOR ... IT WAS A VERY GOOD LEARNING EXPERIENCE, NOT JUST FROM A BASKETBALL STANDPOINT, BUT ALSO PREPARING FOR ADULT LIFE."- Tim Makkonen on playing for Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina

Carolina basketball and the social life were important, he'd say, but so were the classes.

Smith was renowned for handing out cards before each practice with a thought for the day.

If he stopped a workout and a player was unable to recite the thought, the entire team would run. 

Makkonen remembers Smith telling the players to think not just about basketball, but about family and integrity, too. 

"You need to be a man of your word and appreciate the people around you," Makkonen said, echoing the words of his former coach.

Smith had a model program. He captured a second NCAA crown in 1993 and strung together 20-win seasons one after another.

He always told his biggest stars to turn professional when he knew they were ready, and sure bets to earn enough money that would set them up for life.

I remember Smith, after my freshman year, telling Jordan that he should skip his senior season and enter the draft.

The Wilmington native heeded the advice, though he returned to UNC to get his degree.

When he retired in 1997, Smith had more victories than any coach in NCAA history.

It wasn't just about the winning for Smith, though.

All of the tributes remember him as being a humble person. He did not want the Student Activities Center, where Carolina started playing their games in January of 1986, to later be renamed the Dean Smith Center. That was a battle he lost.

I remember Smith's sense of fair play.

At the home games I watched (I missed two in four years), Smith always jumped off the bench and signaled to the Carolina fans behind the basket where opponents were shooting free-throws not to wave their arms. 

After games, Smith always praised the opponent no matter what the result had been.

The last time I saw him was in 2007, two decades after my graduation, at the EuroBasket in Madrid.

He was being recognized as part of the inaugural class of the FIBA Hall of Fame.

After a vital victory for Germany over Italy, I ran down to the winning locker room and to my surprise, saw a frailer Smith, in his mid-70s, standing there.

I admit, I got emotional. It's not every day you get to talk to one of your heroes.

Smith was waiting to enter the locker room to see one of his former players, Germany's Ademola Okulaja.

That was Dean Smith. 

He never forgot or lost touch with his players. 

Jeff Taylor
FIBA

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