Dean Smith, who during his 36 years (1961-97) as head basketball coach at North Carolina, won 879 games (which at the time of his retirement was the all-time record for most wins by a men's college basketball coach), piloted the Tar Heels to national titles in 1982 and 1993, and who coached such players as Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Phil Ford, Sam Perkins, passed away on Saturday night at his Chapel Hill, North Carolina home at age 83.
Coach Smith also coached the United States men's Olympic team to the 1976 Gold Medal at that year's Montreal Summer Olympic Games.
The Tar Heels registered 20 or more wins for 27 consecutive years, still an NCAA Division I record.
To go with the two NCAA national titles, Coach Smith's Tar Heels won 13 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament titles, went to 11 NCAA Tournament Final Fours, and would be enshrined in both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and College Basketball Hall of Fame.
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