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The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 15 gold medals in the 18 tournaments they have participated in during the past 84 years, while the women have won 8 gold medals in the 10 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 44 years. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this year while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Dr. Kenn Johnson, KU alum and author of multiple books about KU basketball, about Dean Smith winning a pair of NCAA titles in 1982/1993 and a gold medal in 1976.

Smith was born in Emporia, KS, and at Topeka High School he was named all-state in basketball as a senior: what made him choose Kansas for college? In high school Dean always held down the coach-on-the-field type of positions: quarterback, catcher, and point guard. KU told him that he could play all three sports, which he did. Additionally, KU offered him an academic scholarship in mathematics. (Note from Kenn: I went to Topeka High eight years after Smith graduated so he has always been a hero to me)

He won the 1952 NCAA title as player for Coach Phog Allen, was NCAA runner-up in 1953, then after graduating he spent 1 year as an assistant to Allen in 1954: what did it mean to him to win a title, and how did he like playing/working for Allen? “Everyone understood that he was going to be a coach”, observed Rich Clarkson, Lawrence Journal-World reporter. Dean certainly appreciated the fact that Allen let him sit next to him on the bench and occasionally asked him for advice. He liked Phog so much that he served briefly as an assistant coach on Allen’s staff before joining the Air Force in 1954.

He was coach of team USA at the 1976 Olympics: what did it mean to him to represent his country, and what did it mean to him to win a gold medal? Even though he did not get the opportunity for revenge against the Russians after the controversial loss to the Soviets in 1972, he nevertheless coached the 1976 team to a perfect 7-0 slate and returned the gold back home to the US. He was proudest of the fact that he became one of only three coaches to have won an NIT title/NCAA title/Olympic gold medal (along with Pete Newell/Bob Knight).

In the 1982 NCAA title game as coach at North Carolina, Michael Jordan made the game-winning jumper with 17 seconds left in a 1-PT win over Georgetown (www.youtube.com/watch?v=qklYkm2jAQ4): how did he like coaching 1 of the greatest athletes in sports history, and what did it mean to him to win a title as a coach (becoming the 2nd person after Bob Knight to win an NCAA title as both a player and a coach)? Before 1982 Smith was always a bridesmaid as a coach, never the bride. 6 times he went to the Final Four…and 6 times he came away empty-handed. He gained the reputation that he could not win the big one. Just before laying that to rest he said, “We are going to determine who wins this game.” He grabbed Jordan and said, “Knock it down.” When they broke the huddle the looks on their faces had changed 180 degrees. The way he talked to them had more to do with winning the national championship than anything else that happened that season. The feelings between Jordan and Smith were mutual. After he graduated Jordan said, “Other than my parents, no one had a bigger influence on my life than Coach Smith. He was more than a coach: he was my mentor, my teacher, my second father. Coach was always there for me whenever I needed him and I loved him for it. In teaching me the game of basketball, he taught me about life.”

Take me through the 1993 Final 4:
In the semifinals he had a 10-PT win over Kansas: how did he feel about facing/beating his alma mater (especially after getting ejected during their previous match-up in the 1991 Final 4)? Of course he had conflicting feelings about beating his alma mater but gaining the win for his Tar Heels. Before the game he said that he would have preferred playing against some other team. He was embarrassed about getting ejected in their previous match-up so the win helped him deal with it.

In the title game Chris Webber got whistled for a technical foul after calling a timeout that his team did not have in a 6-PT loss by Michigan (www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiJxgcka7BA): did he feel weird about winning another title on such a bizarre play? Beating Michigan to obtain his second national championship was great, no matter how bizarre the play was.

He coached for 36 years at North Carolina, was named national COY 4 times, and retired with a D-1 record 879 wins: what made him such a great coach, and what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? When UNC Chancellor William Aycock hired Smith as head coach, he told the 30-year old Smith that wins and losses did not matter as much as running a clean program and representing the university well. True to Aycock’s words, Smith always ran a clean program and represented UNC well. Due to that effort, Aycock kept him on board even while the losses mounted during his first few years, which resulted in the students hanging Smith in effigy. Smith definitely appreciated Aycock’s confidence, and his teams eventually started winning. Smith developed 26 consensus All-Americans, 5 NBA Rookies of the Year (including Jordan), and 25 first-round draft picks.

He was credited with popularizing several techniques including huddling at the FT line before a foul shot, pointing a finger at the player who found his teammate for an AST, and implementing the 4 corners offense: how much credit does he deserve as an innovator, and how much credit goes to his fellow KU alum John McLendon for actually inventing the 4 corners offense? His impact on the strategy/tactics of basketball also extended to many other areas. He implemented the run-and-jump defense, the “tired signal” (where a player would use a hand signal, originally a raised fist, to indicate that he needed to come out for a rest), having the point guard call out the defensive set for the team, and instituting the practice of starting all of his team’s seniors during the final home game of the season (aka “Senior Day”) as a way of honoring the contributions of the subs as well as the stars. During his time as a player/assistant coach at KU, Smith became aware of McLendon’s invention of the 4-corners offense, which was designed to run time off of the game clock while trying to preserve a small lead. The strategy proved to be so successful for Smith that it was adopted by many other teams and later led to the adoption of the shot clock, which kept teams from holding the ball for long periods of time.

96.6% of his athletes received their degrees and he recruited the 1st African-American scholarship basketball player in Tar Heel history (1968 Olympian Charlie Scott): how much importance did he place on academics/racial equality? Smith’s father (Alfred) coached the Emporia High Spartans basketball team to the 1934 state title in Kansas. That team was notable for having the first African-American basketball player in Kansas tournament history. The local school board told him not to do it and he said, “No: I am going to do it or I am going to resign”. They won the state championship…and then nobody complained about having an integrated team anymore! He was a high school senior in 1949, which was five years before the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in Brown vs. (Topeka High) Board of Education. Following his father’s lead, Dean pleaded in vain with officials to include African-American players on the school’s basketball team. Sixteen years later, the Atlantic Coast Conference was all-White. However, he championed racial equality both on and off the court. After completing his fourth season as head coach at North Carolina, he helped promote desegregation in the ACC by recruiting Charlie Scott, the school’s first African-American scholarship player, and pushed for equal treatment for Blacks by local businesses. In 1965 Smith helped Howard Lee, a black graduate student at North Carolina, purchase a home in an all-White neighborhood: 4 years later Lee became the town’s mayor. For his effort and brilliance in dealing with racial inequality, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in 2013.

His coaching tree is incredible, including Hall of Famers Larry Brown/Billy Cunningham/Roy Williams: how proud was he of the success of all of his former players/assistants? Smith’s coaching tree also includes people such as Bill Guthridge (former national Coach of the Year at UNC), George Karl (whose 1175 career wins remains #6 in NBA history), former UNC coach/KU assistant Matt Doherty (2001 national Coach of the Year at UNC), and Jerry Stackhouse (2-time NBA All-Star and current Vanderbilt coach), to name just a few who went on to future success. He was always proud of his players and continued to communicate with them well after they graduated.

In 2006 he was part of the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2013 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? I was at KU’s basketball centennial celebration in 1998, when a packed crowd at Allen Fieldhouse gave a rousing ovation to Clyde Lovellette, the leading scorer on the 1952 team, but the loudest cheers were reserved for Smith, the backup guard who played a total of 29 seconds in KU’s victory over St. John’s in the 1952 NCAA title game. Here is what others have said about Smith:
Sports Illustrated writer Alexander Wolff : “Time has drawn for us a portrait of someone far more complex than the usual sideline screamer. Smith is a privacy freak who thrived gracefully in an intensely public line of work. He is a traditionalist who will re-jigger anything if reason warrants. We marvel at how a man so stern summons such compassion, and a man so competitive summons such perspective; how he simultaneously tends to niggling detail and sees the big picture; and how he makes his wondrously Jesuitical distinctions.”
Former UNC All-American Phil Ford: “I knew when I signed with North Carolina that I was getting a great coach for four years, but, in addition, I got a great friend for a lifetime.”
Former Duke star Jay Bilas: “If basketball had a Mount Rushmore, Dean Smith’s face would be on it.”