The basketball world is saddened today to hear of the death of Coach Dean Smith. It is reported that he died at his home in Chapel Hill last night.
I am a 100% Duke man. I’ve pulled for Duke all my life. I graduated from Duke. I am a Dukie. And of course when it comes to coaches I feel our Coach K is the best.
I grew up in the days of the Big Four in the ACC: Duke, UNC, State and Wake. I remember some of the legendary names of coaches in the ACC: Bones McKinney, Vic Bubas, Dean Smith, and Everett Case.
I remember many of the times those Tarheels would beat us. I remember the “Four-Corners” thing that Dean did…. and I joined the rest of the basketball fans (other than Tarheels) in hating those four corners. I think one of the games that changed basketball – which brought in the shot clock – was a game which had a final score in the teens.
One of the things which tells me what kind of a man he was is the time he sat Michael Jordan down because Jordan would not do what Coach Smith wanted him to do. I believe it was a ACC tournament game. They lost that game because of Smith’s move, but it taught his team a lesson. He proved to me that day that character for Smith was more important than winning.
I appreciated his depth of character which was expressed by the words he used, especially in public. Yes, I am a Coach K fan but, at times, I don’t like his language. I must admit that a lot of today’s coach’s let their temper and their language be displayed for all to hear and see. It’s sad that more of our coach’s did not follow Coach Smith’s example. I have always thought that Dean Smith was a man of great character.
The scandal that is going on at UNC about 18 years of academic fraud is very bad for the entire school. I know this goes back into the Dean Smith years as a coach. However, I would be completely dumbfounded to even think that Coach Smith knew or condoned that lack of academic integrity in any way whatsoever. I believe he was a man of honor who would have never been involved in cheating in any way.
We will miss this man, we need more like him… Well done Coach Smith, well done. Thank you for touching our lives in such a special way.
Well folks, I have three books (e-books) on Amazon. They are listed in the bottom of the header above. Click on a title and download it to your iPad, lap top, or Kindle. I hope that it helps you as you seek to draw close to God in your journey of faith. Thanks, Steve.
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The Journey 