Dean Smith's Transition Not Always Smooth

Posted Feb 12, 2015
Willis Whichard was a freshman in 1958 when Dean Smith came on board as an assistant. One Sunday evening in August 1961, Whichard and his wife, Leona, were walking back to Victory Village and took a shortcut through Woollen Gym. “Dean Smith and Frank McGuire were standing in front of the trophy case in what was obviously a pretty intense discussion,” Whichard remembers. (GoHeels.com)

Related: Basketball, Basketball Recruiting

What Will Happen to the Dean Dome? Here Are the Top Options.
The future of the arena that has housed North Carolina Basketball for four decades became a hot-button issue when reports from The News & Observer,...
Sat Mar 28, 2026

Lloyd, May, or Donovan? Pros and Cons for UNC Basketball Coaching Candidates
As UNC continues to search for its next men’s basketball coach, three names which have been floated as prime candidates for the job are Arizona...
Sat Mar 28, 2026

Video: IC Podcast - Carolina Basketball Family Energized And Ready
Tommy Ashley of Inside Carolina and former UNC guard Dewey Burke discuss the events that led to Hubert Davis' dismissal, the aftermath, the re-energized feeling...
Sat Mar 28, 2026

An era ends with Hubert Davis’ firing
In the spring of 1953, a coach from Saint John’s and originally from New York City in Frank McGuire would be hired by North Carolina...
Sat Mar 28, 2026