With Hubert Davis out, North Carolina must finally move beyond the Dean Smith tree

Posted Mar 25, 2026
On Aug. 2, 1961, UNC announced it was promoting a 30-year-old basketball assistant coach named Dean Smith to the top job. Amid little fanfare, a coaching tree took root that day. It grew into the Carolina Way and became the strongest thing in the college basketball forest. It has endured ever since, across 65 years, a towering permanence. Until now. (Sports Illustrated)

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