Roy Williams Remembers Dean Smith

Millions of people are filling out March Madness brackets for the NCAA Tournament, but don’t count Roy Williams among them. “[1977] was the last bracket I ever filled out,” Williams said during his weekly radio. “I think it’s stupid, so I just don’t do it.” It’s not a surprise that Williams hasn’t filled out a […]

I was at my old house yesterday, just off of 15-501 barely across the Chatham County line. My tenant that had been there almost 10 years was moving out, so I’d stopped by to check on things.   As I was in my car waiting to pull out onto the highway, I heard a horn […]

The Patriots had me thinking about Dean Smith all week. Obviously, I am a New England Patriots fan. Duh. And I was unusually calm all week heading into the AFC championship game Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, maybe because the Pats were going for their third straight Super Bowl, fourth in the last […]

The Smith Center now sparkles like a Christmas tree. I wonder what members of Dean Smith’s family think these days when they go to a basketball game in the arena that bears his name. Smith, the legendary and Hall of Fame coach who retired in 1997 and died in 2015, never allowed one sign or […]

Hall of Famer Charles Scott was humble and brilliant. The first black scholarship athlete at UNC and the first true basketball star in the ACC was finally elected to and inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame. Why that award took more than 30 years after his playing career ended is a mystery that could […]

Now that the NCAA has acknowledged it has no jurisdiction over the sanctioned courses offered at its more than 1,000 member institutions, it is time to defend the notion that UNC’s ongoing athletic scandal began with the late Dean Smith more than 18 years ago. Smith believed in educational opportunity for all people. Yes, in […]

Under a perfectly Carolina blue sky on Sunday, the UNC Gospel Choir sang to a crowd of citizens, community leaders and local elected officials gathered at Peace and Justice Plaza where two new names were being added to the granite stone that celebrates local leaders for their work on social justice issues. Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt […]

The University of North Carolina and the United States Basketball Writers Association announced a new award to honor Dean Smith on Wednesday. USBWA President and Yahoo! Sports writer Pat Forde says that there was one overwhelming feeling he had when approached about the idea of the Dean Smith Award during the Final Four. “My first […]

Wednesday night will be the first meeting between rivals UNC and Duke on the basketball court since the passing of legendary UNC men’s basketball coach Dean Smith. In memory of Coach Smith, shirts have been made by Chapel Hill’s Thrill City that are dark blue with the letters DEAN replacing the standard DUKE. Reports estimate […]

As Chapel Hill and the nation mourns the passing of former UNC Coach Dean Smith, tributes from notables are pouring in from far and wide. Current Tar Heel Head Coach Roy Williams reflected at a press conference on Sunday.