In addition, he made many contributions to the game of basketball. I mean, just think, if it wasn't for his Four Corners play, we would've never known what a shot clock was. I always chuckle when I think about that because that was the only way the NCAA could stop Coach Smith's teams (and others I'm sure) from doing that play. Another thing that stood out to me about Coach Smith was his passion about desegregation. He was the first to integrate Carolina's team by recruiting Charlie Scott as the university's first black scholarship athlete. Just in case you're interested, here are some quick facts:
- 96.6% graduation rate among players
- Recruited 26 All-Americas at North Carolina (including Michael Jordan)
- 879 wins in 36 years of coaching (Adolph Rupp had 879 in 41 years)
- 9th highest winning percentage with 77.6%
- Most Division I 20-win seasons with 27 consecutive 20-win seasons from 1970–1997 (30 total)
- 17 regular-season ACC titles, plus 33 straight years finishing in the conference's top three and 20 years in the top two
- 13 ACC tournament titles
- 27 NCAA tournament appearances, including 23 consecutive
- 11 Final Fours
- 2 National Titles
- 8-time ACC Coach of the Year and 4-Time National Coach of the Year
- Member of the National Basketball and North Carolina Sports Hall of Fames as well as a member of the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
Info Gathered From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Smith
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