We just found out that legendary UNC basketball coach Dean Smith just passed away. It is pretty tremendously sad news for me, despite not knowing him personally.
As things have come out about him over the last 5 or 6 years, about the kind of man and mentor he was, I am continually impressed.
For me, he was initially just the coach who led the '93 Tar Heels to a national championship when I was 9 years old. We watched with the neighbors and ran out in the street when it was all over. However, when I later attended UNC and afterward, I began to learn that Dean Smith didn't simply coach basketball, he attempted to shape young men, and society as well.
From all accounts, he put his players first. Not because of what they could do for the program, but because of who he believed each of them to be. It created a culture that is now called "The Carolina Way" and a fraternity of Tar Heels called The Carolina Family.
I am proud to be in that family and proud that Dean E. Smith will always be associated with the University of North Carolina.
A true champion who will be missed.
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