CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith is being remembered as “basketball royalty” at North Carolina.
The man who led the Tar Heels to two national titles and 11 Final Fours died Saturday night at 83.
Mourners on Sunday afternoon laid bouquets and handwritten notes outside the 29-year-old arena that bears Smith’s name. A written sign outside Chapel Hill landmark Sutton’s Drug Store bore one of Smith’s quotes on leadership.
Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford spent 21 years with Smith as an administrator at North Carolina, and called him “basketball royalty.”
He says “sometimes the word legend is used with too little thought,” but in Smith’s case, “it almost seems inadequate.”
Former Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall called Smith “a dominating force” in the sport.
CLICK HERE to read the full release regarding the death of the legendary Coach Dean Smith from the Kansas Athletics office.
