Dean Smith dies at age of 83

[melm00se]

Source: ESPN

Dean Smith, who coached North Carolina to two men's basketball national titles, died Saturday night at the age of 83.

Smith's family announced the Hall of Fame coach's death in a statement released Sunday by the university.

"Coach Dean Smith passed away peacefully the evening of February 7 at his home in Chapel Hill, and surrounded by his wife and five children," Smith's family said in a statement. "We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy as arrangements are made available to the public. Thank you."

Read more: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12296176/dean-smith-former-north-carolina-tar-heels-coach-dies-age-83

[rurallib]

1. IIRC a real leader in integration

he was a truly great one.

[Dont call me Shirley]

2. Dean...

[Ilsa]

3. RIP...

I heard he was a progressive Democrat. He'll be missed by many.

[Botany]

4. The man had guts

While still an assistant at North Carolina, Smith integrated a popular restaurant in Chapel Hill where the all-white basketball team often ate, accompanying a visiting black theology student for a meal there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/09/sports/ncaabasketball/dean-smith-longtime-university-of-north-carolina-basketball-coach-dies-at-83.html

[erpowers]

6. More Important Than the Wins?

That might be more important than the wins.

[Botany]

7. That was a big time win for all of America

@ that time the KKK was a feared and powerful force in North Carolina ....
and @ one time he told a freshman hot shot named Michaeil Jordan that
until he learned to pass the ball he was not going to play and by the end of
that season he had MJ take the final shot to win the NCAA.

[ND-Dem]

9. I don't mean to be difficult, but "accompanying a visiting theogical student" to a restaurant

meal once doesn't = "integrating" the restaurant.

The black theogical student was a) a foreigner b) under the protection of local Christian/missionary establishment c) a short-time visitor, so had certain advantages and a special deal that the ordinary black north carolinian didn't.

The coach may have been a great guy, but crediting him with integrating this restaurant is a bit of hyperbole.

[Calista241]

11. I think you underestimate his contribution to race relations.

In 1966, Smith recruited Charles Scott to the UNC campus. Scott was UNC's first black scholarship athlete, and became the first black star player in the ACC. In 1949, as a high school basketball player in Kansas, Smith fought to integrate his school's all-white and all-black basketball teams.

In 2013, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

http://deadspin.com/dean-smith-dead-at-age-83-1684510001

1949 was nearly 10 years before MLK began his campaign for equality.

[ND-Dem]

12. I'm talking only about the claim that he integrated a restaurant by going there once with a

visiting theological student.

although the claim that he fought to integrate the white & black b-ball teams in Kansas when he was 18 sounds pretty apocryphal too.

It would be nice to have some source material for such claims.

On edit: apparently the white and black teams were somewhat integrated long before 1949, and smith's father was the coach (and presumably a more powerful force than smith, who was only 15 in 1934.)

The only son of strict Baptist schoolteachers, Dean Edwards Smith was born February 28, 1931. He grew up in Emporia, Kansas, watching his father coach. Alfred Smith's high school Spartans won the 1934 state championship with the help of the first black player in Kansas high school tournament history.

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/dean-smith

I don't see much evidence of Smith making many waves until years after MLK (who was only 2 years older than Smith) became active.

Smith came to North Carolina as assistant basketball coach in 1958. In 1961, he succeeded the legendary coach Frank McGuire. McGuire had led the Tar Heels to a national championship in 1957, but his aggressive recruiting had put the program in violation of NCAA rules. Smith would polish UNC's image to a fine sheen. In all his seasons, his program never was charged with a single violation.

Smith's only losing season was his first, but it took a while for him to be accepted. In his first five seasons, Smith twice was hung in effigy on campus. "When I was here, Dean Smith was the biggest joke around, " said Art Heyman, a player with nearby Duke University. "Everybody wanted him fired."

A liberal politically, Smith joined in protests on campus against segregation. In 1964, he accompanied a local black pastor and a black theology student to a segregated Chapel Hills restaurant Smith and his players often visited. The visit integrated the restaurant. In 1966, Smith recruited the first black player in the ACC, Charlie Scott. "Coach Smith was always there for me, " Scott told Sports Illustrated. "On one occasion, as we walked off the court following a game at South Carolina, one of their fans called me a 'big, black baboon.' Two assistants had to hold Coach Smith back from going after the guy. It was the first time I had ever seen Coach Smith visibly upset."

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/dean-smith

This is not to diminish Smith; it simply irks me to hear someone claim that the white 18-year-old had some kind of precedence over MLK.

[Gothmog]

5. May he rest in peace

[underpants]

8. Big time progressive - integrated the ACC, against the death penalty, and anti-nuke

As a UVa fan I can't tell you the number of bad words I said in his direction thru the TV.

Saw him once at a Verizon store but was unable to speak with him. Seemed like a nice guy with the staff.

[Thew]

10. Medal of Freedom from President Obama

Very sad news.

Pres Obama recognized Smith's work a few years back; unfortunately he was too ill to attend the ceremony...

[link:http://www.si.com/college-basketball/one-and-one/2013/11/20/dean-smith-a-deserving-recipient-of-presidential-medal-of-freedom|