Dean Smith, the legendary coach of the University of North Carolina’s men’s basketball team, has died. Coach Smith passed away peacefully at home with his wife and family by his side. He was 83.
While Smith’s basketball accomplishments are well known, new light has been shed on his fight for racial equality in sports and life. Coach Smith was a college player at the University of Kansas, graduating from the program in 1953. He was an assistant coach at his alma mater for two years before taking an assistant’s job for the Air Force. Smith joined UNC’s staff in 1958, and took the head coaching job in 1961.
It was then that the coach was led to a decision that would change the course of his career. Smith was urged by his pastor to recruit an African-American player, this during the swelling heights of the Civil Rights Movement and statewide resistance to racial equality in the Deep South. Smith needed to recruit a player that could handle UNC’s rigid coursework and deal with the racism and threats that was sure to come.
New York player Charles “Charlie” Scott became that recruit. Smith earned Scott’s trust by inviting him to his integrated church and proving that he was not just looking to score a basketball talent. Scott would become the first Black athlete in North Carolina offered an athletic scholarship, and one of the big stars of the elite Atlantic Coast Conference. Scott went on to have a respectable pro career and remains among the list of UNC’s leading scorers.
Although Scott was clearly one of the ACC’s top players, he was passed over for awards. Smith has gone on record saying that it was the first time in his career he saw bias of such a sort in college basketball. From that moment on, Smith became an advocate for Black players and students.
In 1964, Smith desegregated a lunch counter in North Carolina by sitting and eating lunch with a Black theology student. After Scott’s recruitment, Smith faced hostility and intolerance by those who wished to retain the racist practices of bygone days. Smith was beloved for protecting his Black players as well as he could, and the outpouring of love from former teammates shared via social media and in past interviews reflected it.
Smith also encouraged his players to complete their education and top stars like Michael Jordan and Vince Carter returned to complete their degrees after leaving early for the NBA. In fact, Smith has seen a reported 96 percent graduation rate among his former players.
Over 50 players who were coached by Smith went on to play professionally in the NBA and ABA leagues including former Los Angeles Lakers standout James Worthy, Jerry Stackhouse, Walter Davis, Antawn Jamison, Rasheed Wallace and many more.
(Photo by Zeke Smith)
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