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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 8A FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1997
EVENTS • ENTERTAINMENT • ISSUES • MUSIC • ART
DEAN SMITH 879 wins in 36 years North Carolina,1962.97
ADOLPH RUPP
876 wins in 41 years
Kentucky.1931-52.1954-72
JIM PHELAN 772 wins in 43 years Mount St. Mary's, 1954 current
HENRY IBA 767 wins in 41 years Three schools.1930-70
Ed Diddle
759 wins in 42 years
Western Kentucky, 1923-64
GOOD GAME, COACH
Dean Smith retires after 36 years as head basketball coach at North Carolina
Smith retires after losing 'enthusiasm'
The Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. He said he lost his enthusiasm for a game he has loved a lifetime, and loves still.
And in explaining it all, he lost his composure.
He informing a way, he took his compete.
Dean Smith retired as basketball coach at North Carolina yesterday, a job that lasted 36 years, produced two national titles and raised him to the pinnacle of his profession.
His longtime assistant Bill Guthridge will take over with little time to waste; Practice for the upcoming season starts in eight days.
The winningest college basketball coach of all time said he was 80 percent sure last week he wanted to step down; after the weekend, it was 100 percent.
"This timing is something I believed in all along," said Smith, who broke Adolph Rupp's career victory mark of 876 last season during the NCAA tournament. "I certainly wouldn't want to say I'll coach this year and resign after the
season. Can you imagine how many rocking chairs at different places I would get and them all acting like they like you? I've seen that all too often."
With students gathered outside, pressing against windows, his North Carolina team entered a packed room of about 300 reporters, former players, faculty, staff and friends inside the Smith Center
"Larry Brown always fires me up...I used to be like that and if I can't give this team that enthusiasm I said I would give it up."
moments before the coach. His players were somber, jocked that Smith had chosen to retire so suddenly.
Dean Smith retired North Carolina head basketball coach
Smith appeared at ease as he began to address the crowd, but began to cry when he talked about his players — all of them.
"What loyalty I've had, from my players ..." Smith said, wiping away tears, then dropping his head for several moments while he tried to regain his composure.
"I knew some day this would be my last team." Smith said.
"Yes, there is guilt. I look at their faces, and I just couldn't handle that. I couldn't if it turned right now. But I still believe it's best for them unless I could give them what I want."
He couldn't really pin down major factors in his decision, though he mentioned his 66-year-old body was out of shape and overweight.
Mostly he talked about knowing when to go.
"I am going to try to exercise, and the doctor didn't tell me to do that," Smith said. "But when you're nearing 200 pounds at 5-10, it's time to do something."
Smith said he knew it was time to give it up when he saw Larry Brown coaching the Philadelphia 76ers at training camp in Chapel Hill.
"There is nobody like you," Clinton said. "But not just because you won, but because of the way you did it. We all respect and admire you so much."
"Larry Brown always fires me up, watching him out on the court, the enthusiasm," Smith said. "I said, 'I used to be like that and if I can't give this team that enthusiasm I said I would give it up.' That's honestly how I feel."
He led the Tar Heels to an NCAA-record 27 consecutive 20-win seasons. Smith's only losing season came in his first, when the team was 8-8 in 1961-62.
Smith, with a career record of 879-254, won national titles in 1982 and 1993. His teams have finished in the top three of the ACC for a record 33 straight seasons, including last season's second-place mark.
The 60-year-old Guthridge will receive a long-term contract if approved by the UNC Board of Trustees.
On this day of fond farewells and tearful goodbyes, Smith got a call from one of America's biggest college basketball fans - President Clinton.
The Associated Press
LAWRENCE — Outside of North Carolina, no basketball program in the country has been more heavily influenced by Dean Smith than Kansas.
Smith's influence reaches still to his hometown of Emporia.
"It's such an honor when he comes down," said Larry Collins, who grew up with Smith and played Legion baseball with him. "He just talks to me," he said. "People standing around can't believe it's him. We just talk about old times. "He's always wearing a suit," Collins said. "I don't do that. But he always looks great. He's a real gentleman."
Smith lived in Emporia until his parents moved to Topeka, Kan., for his senior year of high school. He went on to learn basketball under legendary coach Phog Allen as a member of the 1952 team which won the NCAA championship. He was also on the Kansas team that lost to Indiana in the finals of the 1953 NCAA championship.
He is also one of 13 former Jayhawks elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
Smith, who last year became the winningest coach in college basketball history, announced his resignation yesterday afternoon in a news conference on the North Carolina campus.
It was upon his recommendation that Kansas hired its last two coaches, Larry Brown and Roy Williams. Both were players under Smith, and Williams was an assistant coach for 12 years before succeeding Brown after the 1988 season, when Brown led Danny Manning and the Jayhawks to their most recent NCAA title.
"I think you would have to say that we've been well served by getting Dean Smith's recommendations on hiring a coach," Doug Vance, an assistant athletic director at Kansas once said.
Collins remembers the time that North Carolina was in Kansas City when Smith was an assistant under Frank McGuire. Collins walked into a crowded Muelebach Hotel to see his old buddy. "There were all these people around and I was just standing there and finally I said 'the heck it' and started pushing through the crowd," Collins said. "I got within about 20 feet of him and he hollered out my name.
"He introduced me to Adolph Rupp, to Frank McGuire. I was standing about 20 feet tall. He hasn't changed any. Anytime he comes down, he always stops to say hello and talk. He just never changes. I can't say enough about him."
Smith has retained many personal ties to Kansas and still visits Emporia occasionally.
Dean Smith takes to his heels; Williams will remain a Jayhawk
Tarheels' coach resigns longtime assistant offered multi-year deal
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Associate sports editor
Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams will not leave Lawrence to succeed Dean Smith as head coach of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.
Smith announced his retirement as North Carolina men's basketball coach at a press conference yesterday. Bill Guthridge, Tar Heels assistant coach for 31 years, will be offered a multi-year contract to follow Smith.
Kansas men's basketball coachRoy Williams cut down the nets after the Jayhawks won the Big 12 Tournament last season. Williams he said would stay at Kansas despite rumors to the contrary. File Photo/KANSAN
Williams hoped to bury speculation that he would leave Kansas.
"I think I know where I am and where I want to be," Williams said. "I've been coming to the same office area for 9 1/2 years, so hopefully the loyalty that I've shown already takes care of most of that. I've had some other opportunities, but this is where I want to come to work. This is where I want to be."
Williams said he was never contacted by the chancellor or director of athletics at North Carolina, and said he had no reason to contact them.
Kansas assistant coach Matt Doherty, who played four years at North Carolina and graduated in 1984, said it might be easier to recruit high school prospects in the future.
"For every kid I recruit, I'm asked whether Roy Williams will leave Kansas to replace Dean Smith in North Carolina," Doherty said. "I'm hoping that I won't have to answer that question anymore."
Now retired, Smith may attend Kansas' 100 years of basketball reunion Feb. 7-8 in Lawrence.
About 300 former players and coaches are expected to return that weekend for the festivities. Smith was a member of Kansas' 1952 national championship team, which will be honored at a private banquet.
Williams was in North Carolina Sunday through Tuesday and discussed the situation with Smith. Williams said he knew of Smith's decision as he
flew back to Lawrence Tuesday.
"We woke about (Smith retiring) this spring and summer." Williams said. "When he told me the final decision, it was still a hard one to listen to. I tried my best to talk him out it, and we've all done that."
He added that many people associated with North Carolina had contacted him about Smith's health, which both Williams and Smith said was fine.
"Last night I didn't have time to think between phone calls, and it's been the same way this morning," Williams said. "After talking to some former players, everybody's first concern was to make sure that he was all right. There's nothing wrong with
his health."
Williams played on North Carolina's freshman team, coached by Guthridge, in 1968-69 as a non-scholarship player.
Williams, like Smith, has enjoyed long-term success without any violations of NCAA rules and regulations. Both programs have been considered to be the models for big-time college athletic programs.
"This is a sad day for college basketball and yet we should celebrate because that guy did it the right way," Williams said. "He did it the way he wanted to do it, he did it the way it should be done and he gave all of us a great model to try to emulate."