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Dean Edwards Smith (born February 28, 1931) is a retired head coach of men’s college basketball. Originally from Emporia, Kansas, Smith has been called a “coaching legend” by the Basketball Hall of Fame. more...

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Smith is best known for his successful coaching tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (“UNC”) for 36 years.

Smith coached UNC from 1961 to 1997 and finished his career with a record of 879 wins, which is second only to Bobby Knight for the most victories by any NCAA Division I men's basketball coach, though it took Knight five more years and 100 more losses to eclipse Smith's record though the man Smith eclipsed in 1997, Adolph Rupp had 64 fewer losses than Smith and a better winning percentage. Smith has the 9th highest winning percentage of any men’s college basketball coach with a .776 winning percentage. During his time as head coach of UNC, UNC won two national titles and appeared in 11 Final Fours. Smith is also known for running a clean program and having a high graduation rate for his players with 96.6% players going on to graduate. While at UNC, Smith helped promote desegregation by recruiting UNC’s first black scholarship player Charlie Scott and pushing for equal treatment for blacks by local businesses.

Many of the players and coaches that Smith worked with at UNC went on to achieve notable success in basketball. These include Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Phil Ford, Jerry Stackhouse, Roy Williams, Larry Brown, George Karl, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Kenny Smith, Antawn Jamison, and Rasheed Wallace.

Smith retired as head coach from UNC in 1997 saying that he was not able to give the team the same level of enthusiasm that he had had given it for years. Since retirement, Smith has used his influence to help out in various charitable ventures and political activities.

Background

Smith was born in Emporia, Kansas on February 28, 1931. Both of his parents were public school teachers. Smith's father, Alfred, also coached basketball and coached the Emporia High Spartans to the 1934 state title in Kansas with the first black basketball player in Kansas tournament history.

While at Topeka High School Smith lettered in basketball all four years and was named all-state in basketball as a senior. Smith's interest in sports was not limited only to basketball. Smith also played quarterback for his high school football team and catcher for the high school baseball team.

Read more at Wikipedia.org