SI Vault: Dean Smith Won Battles Large And Small, On The Court And Off

Posted Feb 8, 2015
On Aug. 5, 1961, 30-year-old Dean Smith was appointed to preside over what survived as basketball at the University of North Carolina. It was something of a shotgun marriage. As for Smith, he was largely an unknown quantity. He had been assistant coach to Frank McGuire for three seasons, but he was an outlander from Kansas, content to stay in the background juggling X's and O's. (Sports Illustrated)

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