Emporia, Kansas is Dean Smith's birthplace. After completing school in Emporia and Topeka, he came to the University of Kansas where he played under Coach Phog Allen. Dean played on the National Championship team, the 1952 team which beat St. John's 80-63. The 1953 team went to the National Finals but lost to Indiana in the final game.
Smith has coached at North Carolina for over thirty years, his career beginning in 1961. Since that time his team won the 1971 NIT and the NCAA Championship in 1982 and 1993. He coached the 1976 U.S. Olympic team which won the Gold Medal. In his first 32 seasons he compiled a 774-221 record. North Carolina is one of the three teams in the U.S. to have over 500 wins. The other two teams are the University of Kentucky and the University of Kansas.
He has guided North Carolina to a totatl of 26 seasons of 20 or more wins. The last 23 were consecutive which is a national record. His teams have won or tied for 16 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships. In addition, North Carolina has now played in 19 consecutive NCAA Tournaments breaking John Wooden's UCLA streak and has made nine appearances in the NCAA Final Four. His teams have won the most NCAA Tournament games in history.
Of his 199 Lettermen, 194 have graduated. Also, 84 Lettermen have done graduate work in various fields. Forty-two of his former players including former University of Kansas Coach Larry Brown and present University of Kansas Coach Roy Williams are coaches, teachers or athletic administrators at some level.
Dean Smith was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, Massachusetts in 1982.
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