Dean Smith‚‚Smith, once the winningest college basketball coach ever with 879 wins, was a member of the 1952 Kansas team which claimed the NCAA title, downing St. John™s, 80-63, and a member of the 1953 team which lost to Indiana in the NCAA finals. ‚‚A native of Emporia, Kan., Smith came to KU on an academic scholarship. He was a three sport athlete, playing varsity basketball, varsity baseball, and freshmen football. After graduation, Smith was the assistant coach at the University of Kansas for the 1953-54 season before becoming the head coach at North Carolina in 1961 at the age of 30. The 1961 season would become his only losing season. Smith coached North Carolina to the 1982 NCAA title with a team composed of future NBA greats Michael Jordan, James Worth, and Sam Perkins. He also coached the team to the 1993 NCAA title and his 1971 team claimed the NIT crown. He was the coach of the 1976 Olympic squad that won a gold medal. In 36 seasons as the head coach at North Carolina, he compiled an NCAA record 879-254 mark. He took his North Carolina teams to 23 consecutive NCAA tournaments, breaking John Wooden™s UCLA streak. His Tar Heels played in the Final Four 11 times. Smith guided North Carolina to 27 consecutive seasons of 20 or more wins, giving him the ninth highest win percentage in men's college basketball at 77.6%. The Tar Heels won 13 Atlantic Coast Conference championships with Smith at the helm, and UNC won either the regular season race or the postseason tournament 20 out of 27 years. He coached 32 all-conference players and 26 All-Americans while seeing 51 of his former players go on to play in the professional ranks. A total of 20 of his former ¬players, including former KU coaches Larry Brown and Roy Williams, are coaches or administrators on the college or pro level. While at North Carolina, Smith was responsible for promoting desegregation by recruiting Charlie Scott, the first African-American scholarship basketball player for the University. He retired from North Carolina in 1997 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984.
Teams:Baseball 1951Basketball (Men's) 1951Baseball 1952Basketball (Men's) 1952Baseball 1953Basketball (Men's) 1953National Champion1952 - Basketball (Men's)
Conference Champion1952 - Basketball (Men's)
1953 - Basketball (Men's)
National Hall of Fame1984 - Basketball (Men's)
