Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 23, 1993 TAG: 9303230049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ron Green Jr. KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. LENGTH: Long
SMITH THE SPARK FOR UNC'S FIRE
SOME MAY find things to criticize about North Carolina's basketball program, butDean Smith has the Tar Heels set up to be a powerhouse well into the 1990s.Dean Smith likes jazz, Big Band tunes and even some gentle rock music. He appreciates gourmet food, likes osso buco for dinner, is passionate about golf and has studied theology for years.
He was a leader in the integration movement in Chapel Hill in the early 1960s, he made a public service announcement in support of a nuclear freeze several years ago and, though he guards his privacy intensely, he has made it clear that his political views lean decidedly toward the liberal side.
Two weeks ago, he and his wife, Linnea, donated $100,000 to the University of North Carolina, and, though he preferred to keep the donation quiet, he agreed to a public announcement in hopes it would spur more gifts to the school.
Now deep into his 32nd season at North Carolina, Smith is the caretaker of a program that has maintained the glow of success, coming as close as any program to being college basketball's eternal flame.
Even as Duke has won consecutive national championships and made the Final Four its home away from home, Smith has been able to throw counterpunches against those who suggested North Carolina had been mortally wounded.
In the ACC Tournament, Smith became the second-winningest coach in NCAA Division I basketball history, passing one of his mentors, Hank Iba. Smith arrived at the tournament with 766 victories. With two wins, he passed Iba, leaving only Adolph Rupp's 875 victories ahead of him.
Smith, 62, remains the flame within the North Carolina program. The image of him on the sideline, his head cocked forward as he peers from under bushy eyebrows while the sound of his nasal instructions stab the air, is the image of an era.
North Carolina's continued success hasn't come automatically, however. Twice in the past four seasons, North Carolina has lost at least 10 games after going 23 years without losing 10 in a season, and Duke has become the new emperor of college basketball.
At times there have been hints that perhaps Smith and the North Carolina program were heading into the inevitable decline that so far has not materialized.
But the Tar Heels reached the NCAA Tournament semifinals two years ago, landed a spectacular recruiting class a year earlier and set themselves up to be a powerhouse well into the 1990s.
To do so, Smith and his staff have had to fight off the image of rigid commanders who stifle creativity. Critics charge "the system," a term Smith disdains, limits players. They say the faces change but the system never does.
Smith also has been called petty, manipulative, two-sided and the only man capable of holding Michael Jordan under 20 points a game. But he and the program have charged ahead, adjusting against a perception that nothing ever changes, into a promising but uncertain future. No dwelling on critics
At various times in Smith's career, there has been an undercurrent of concern about the state of his program. He was burned in effigy when one of his early North Carolina teams struggled. When David Thompson escaped to North Carolina State in the early 1970s and when Duke's remarkable rise coincided with a downturn in Chapel Hill, there were suggestions that Smith was past his prime.
More to the point, critics and even some nervous North Carolina fans recently questioned whether Smith could get the kind of players he would need to continue the unprecedented success of the Tar Heels program.
Could he relate to a new generation of basketball players, many of them trained on the streets? Could he bridge the generation gap from Chuck Taylors to Air Jordans?
"It's different now because they're exposed to so much more, but it's not like all 20-year-olds are different than 20-year-olds were before. There are still some things they have in common," Smith said. "Every human being is different, but there are still things that a 40-year-old and a 20-year-old are likely to think. That hasn't been a problem."
Still, Kenny Anderson rejected North Carolina for Georgia Tech because he didn't want "to be another horse in Dean Smith's stable." Grant Hill wound up at Duke instead of North Carolina, as did Christian Laettner. The talent level in Chapel Hill dipped for a time.
Then Smith hit the pavement. He went out and got the class that included Eric Montross, Brian Reese, Pat Sullivan, Derrick Phelps and since-transferred Clifford Rozier, called at the time the greatest recruiting class ever.
"He's not one to dwell on what other people say but, at the same time, human nature causes you to hear those things," said Kansas coach Roy Williams, a longtime Smith assistant. "The worst thing you can do to Coach Smith is tell him he can't do something."
Still, the Jordan line became as familiar as the North Carolina fight song. As a point of clarification, Jordan did, in fact, average 20 points at North Carolina as a sophomore in 1982-83. As a junior, when he averaged 19.6, the Tar Heels were handed perhaps their most bitter defeat in the 1984 regional final to Indiana, and the legend - or the rap - grew.
"I don't care who has the points. I just want North Carolina to have the most of them," Smith says.
Recruiting rivals told prospects that North Carolina's program would inhibit their freedom on the court. Scorers get lost at North Carolina.
That's why no one expected Jerry Stackhouse of Oak Hill Academy in Virginia to commit to North Carolina. Stackhouse, the best basketball player North Carolina has produced since Jordan, represented everything that didn't fit in Smith's program. At least, that's what many people thought and said.
He would go to N.C. State or Duke or Florida State or any place but North Carolina. Stackhouse heard the Jordan line constantly, and it had a funny effect.
"Why was everybody talking against North Carolina?" Stackhouse said. "It wasn't like they were talking against any other school, just Carolina. I thought maybe there's something there that's really good for me.
"I listened to a lot of things. I've heard it all. Some people said they hoped I'd go to North Carolina because that way if they played against me, it would assure them that I'd only score 10 points a game."
The rap. He even heard about it from Smith.
"He more or less brought it up," Stackhouse said. "There were always rumors around that I wasn't interested in North Carolina because I didn't feel I was going to come in and play because freshmen don't play. He said if you're good enough to play, you'll play. I felt like it was the perfect match."
Stackhouse asked about scoring, and Smith had an answer waiting.
"He showed me the statistics," Stackhouse said. "Every year they're among the top-scoring teams in the league. Evidently someone is scoring."
Stackhouse liked the way Smith and the Tar Heels were low key in their recruiting of him. They didn't bombard him with mail, though Smith would write occasionally.
When they sat down and talked, Smith talked about many things, what mattered and what didn't matter, to him and to Stackhouse. They talked about the NBA, about how much freshmen get to play, about a wide range of topics.
"When you look at the track record of how their players have done, the trend just goes on," Stackhouse said. "I felt I could come in and, not necessarily follow in their footsteps, but make my own." Some things don't change
There are certain things Stackhouse and any other player who commits himself to Smith's program must accept. Details are essential. Teamwork is the oxygen of the program.
If there is a guiding principle behind Smith's philosophy, it is the belief that a disciplined man is a free man. Some things never change. Players must be on time. When Smith speaks, everyone listens. Eye contact is important. Players look Smith in the eye when he speaks. Defense is essential. Unselfishness is a virtue.
There is a perception, though, that Smith's coaching philosophy never changes. People call it a system, and Smith flinches. A system implies interchangeable parts. That's not how Smith sees his basketball program.
"If someone says you never change, that implies you're not growing. That's a bad sign," Smith said.
In many ways, the program is in constant change. Much of it is private, kept within the invisible confines of the team. Some of it is obvious, like the increased double-teaming by North Carolina's defense this season or the emphasis on setting screens to free Hubert Davis last season.
"People think it's all programmed and computerized, and that's not it at all," Williams said. "People say coach never changes, that each year it's the same thing. That's hogwash.
"The fundamentals are the same, yeah, but it's the same way at Indiana or anywhere else where one person has had a lot of success. I've heard him say let's change things just for the sake of change."
The last five players to lead North Carolina in scoring have played five different positions. This year, it's center Eric Montross. Last year, it was shooting guard Hubert Davis. Before that, it was small forward Rick Fox, power forward J.R. Reid and point guard Kenny Smith.
When Smith got into coaching more than 30 years ago, he told himself he didn't want any surprises. He still produces some, however. An associate of Smith's was shocked recently when he was in a car with the coach as an oldies radio station played softly in the background.
"A song came on, something like, `Crimson and Clover,' and he said, `Turn it up. That's one of my favorites.' I never would have thought that," the associate said.
When it comes to basketball, though, nothing is unexpected. Every detail is covered, even if it seems picky or quirky.
"There's a purpose to everything," said former North Carolina player Matt Doherty, now an assistant coach at Kansas. "You're not, as your mother might say, just doing it for your health."
At the top of the daily practice plan are three things that must be committed to memory. Two are basic to the game, an offensive and defensive emphasis of the day. Often it's something as basic as a reminder to catch the ball with two hands every time.
The third element is the thought for the day, a personal favorite of Smith's, and is usually unrelated to basketball. It is often motivational and always thought provoking, such as:
"The rewards for those who persevere far exceed the pain that must precede the victory."
Or, "Chance favors the prepared mind."
The passage may come from a civil rights leader, a philosopher, a theologian, or from any place Smith finds an idea that strikes him.
"I call that using the power of coaching. It gets you thinking," said Smith, who sees himself primarily as a teacher whose reach exceeds the boundary of the basketball court. Confidence in the coach
Practices are planned daily by the staff, and the plans are filed. If Smith wants to see a practice plan from 1970, it could be found.
"If we have a problem in a particular area, I can look back and see what we were doing another time. Maybe we were spending more time on something," Smith said.
The daily practice plan is broken down to the minute. After prepractice work on individual skills at several stations at the Smith Center, Smith will blow his whistle to start practice. For the next two hours or so, everything is scheduled, with Smith spending the bulk of his time concentrating on defense. Even two-minute water breaks are worked into schedule.
A byproduct of Smith's attention to detail is an unfailing confidence in him when the game is on the line. North Carolina has built a history of spectacular comebacks, including the eight-point rally in 17 seconds against Duke in 1974 through the 21-point second-half rally against Florida State this season. During North Carolina's 22-point comeback against Wake Forest last season, Smith told his team how big its deficit would be at each timeout.
"He was right every time," said Hubert Davis.
It is all part of a process that Smith sees as bigger than basketball.
"No one is above the system. That's a proven fact," Jordan said.
It doesn't work for everybody. Rozier, part of Smith's now-famous recruiting class three years ago, decided to leave the program and transfer to Louisville after his freshman year. In an interview after his transfer, Rozier said, "Coach Smith is a militant coach. He's a disciplinarian. He's like a sergeant in the Army. He teaches you and makes you learn."
Some habits are hard to break. That's why freshmen often struggle under Smith. Old habits must be replaced by new habits. In building habits, Smith is building discipline. In building that discipline, he believes, he is building a freedom on the basketball court. Will Rupp's record fall?
Dean Smith despises talk about coaching records. As the victories have continued to pile up, he has brushed off questions about each milestone.
But the question of his future and the possibility of breaking Adolph Rupp's record of 875 victories, which could happen by 1997, won't go away.
Smith has insisted he won't break Rupp's mark. He said once he would retire first, even if it meant stepping down when he was one victory shy. Asked about that comment recently, Smith said, "I'd say the same thing again. . . . I have no intention of [breaking the record]."
Others believe he will be swayed by those close to him, particularly his former players, for whom the record would carry a special meaning. Records are a byproduct of his success.
"I think he really enjoys coaching," said Bill Guthridge, Smith's assistant of 26 seasons. "I think he'll coach a long time."
Only Smith may know when the flame goes out.
Keywords:
PROFILE