Dean Smith (basketball coach)

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Smith (2007)

Dean Edwards Smith [ ˈdiːn ˈɛdwəɹz ˈsmɪθ ] (born February 28, 1931 in Emporia , Kansas , † February 7, 2015 in Chapel Hill , North Carolina ) was an American basketball coach and a great legend of college sports. In his 36 years as the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels , he scored 879 victories, a record among college coaches that was only broken by Bobby Knight in 2007 .

Career

After attending high school (1945 to 1949) in Topeka , Kansas, he received a scholarship from the University of Kansas. There he learned the basics of basketball under coach Phog Allen . With the Jayhawks team , he won the national college championship in 1952, and was only defeated in the final the following year. After his time as a player he was an assistant coach until 1961.

At the age of 30 he became the head coach of the Tar Heels at the University of North Carolina. He quickly formed the team into a top team, but it wasn't until 1971 that it was enough to win the NIT title. In 1976, Smith won gold at the Montréal Games as coach of the US Olympic team . In 1982 he won the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship for the first time , and again in 1993. Three times (1977, 1979 and 1993) he was voted coach of the year. In 1997 he resigned with a record of 879 wins and only 254 defeats and was then voted Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year .

Numerous successful players have been coached by Dean Smith, including Bob McAdoo , James Worthy and Michael Jordan . Some of his players later also became successful coaches, such as Billy Cunningham , George Karl , Larry Brown or Roy Williams . On May 2, 1983, Dean Smith was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach and on September 12, 2007 into the FIBA Hall of Fame .

Smith in 2006

In 2013 he was awarded the President's Medal of Freedom .

Fonts

  • with John Kilgo, Sally Jenkins: A Coach's Life. My 40 years in college basketball. New York 2002, ISBN 0-375-75880-1 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Dean Smith  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith dies after legendary career
  2. ^ President Obama Names Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients | The White House: Recipient of the Freedom Medal 2013 . Website The White House. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Smith, Dean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Smith, Dean Edwards
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American basketball coach
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Emporia , Kansas, USA
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 2015
Place of death Chapel Hill , North Carolina