Legendary UNC basketball coach Dean Smith passed away on February 7, but he wanted to have a nice final gesture in place for his former players.
Coach Smith left $200 in his will for each of his former letterman’s. He set up the Dean E. Smith Revocable Trust with the goal of having each one of the varsity lettermen he coached “enjoy a dinner out compliments of coach Dean Smith.”
Smith led the Tar Heels for 36 seasons, highlighted by many NCAA titles and coaching a little-known shooting guard by the name of Michael Jordan (maybe you’ve heard of him).
His reach well felt outside of the court as well.
“He exerted his influence to help a black graduate student buy a home in an all-white neighborhood. He did the same to integrate Chapel Hill restaurants notorious for turning away black customers. He also recruited [Charles] Scott to North Carolina in 1966 at a time when most other top Southern programs were still resistant to bringing in black players, an instrumental moment in the desegregation of the Atlantic Coast Conference,” was reported on Yahoo.
In this day in age where everything is about money and business, it’s nice to see a coach that genuinely care about his players.
Late UNC Coach Dean Smith Left Money For All His Former Players In His Will was originally published on theurbandaily.com
