Smith, Dean (1931-2015), an American basketball coach, was one of the most successful coaches in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In 1997, Smith won his 877th game as a head coach, breaking the men’s record held by Adolph Rupp of the University of Kentucky. Smith retired in 1997 with a career record of 879 victories and 254 losses. Coaches Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski later surpassed Smith’s record for victories by a Division I men’s coach.
Smith spent his entire head coaching career at the University of North Carolina. His teams won NCAA championships in the 1981-1982 and 1992-1993 seasons. Smith coached many all-American players, including Phil Ford, Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, and James Worthy.
Dean Edwards Smith was born on Feb. 28, 1931, in Emporia, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1953 and began his career there as an assistant coach. He was an assistant coach at the Air Force Academy for three years and then served as an assistant coach at North Carolina from 1958 to 1961, when he became head coach. Smith also coached the United States men’s basketball team that won a gold medal in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Smith wrote an autobiography, A Coach’s Life: My Forty Years in College Basketball (1999). Smith died on Feb. 7, 2015.
