The most central measure of a life is found in its impact on other people. By that standard, Dean Edwards Smith mastered the art of being human.

Smith’s greatness as a man transformed lives. His coaching acumen certainly led to significant advancements in the way basketball was taught and studied, but its greatest value is that it enabled Smith to have a platform in the integration of North Carolina and other pursuits far more important than teaching five men how to put an orange sphere through a net.

Let’s not obscure the issue: Dean Smith’s life — which ended on Feb. 7, 2015 — mattered most because it healed and transformed many people. The wins and thes Final Fours and the two national championships were secondary. Yet, the quality of Smith’s coaching is why we remember his influence on a state, a university, generations of young people, and— in the end — American society.

One year after Smith’s death, it’s essential to remember the great man. This reading collection is worth revisiting, chiefly because it looks at the whole person, not just the coach. Do take the time to appreciate what Smith meant to others, far beyond the confines of basketball.

Naturally, though, it’s impossible to avoid fresh appraisals of Smith’s coaching legacy as the story of college basketball continues to be written. Is there anything new to say about Smith’s body of work between the painted lines, which has been remembered and evaluated on many fronts?

Actually, there is… and it makes the North Carolina icon look that much better.

When Dean Smith reached the Sweet 16 in 1981 (shown above), who could have known that one of the great streaks in college basketball history was about to begin?
When Dean Smith reached the Sweet 16 in 1981, who could have known that one of the great streaks in college basketball history was about to begin?

The photo above shows Dean Smith coaching in the 1981 West Regional in Salt Lake City. North Carolina won what amounted to a road game in the Sweet 16 against Utah, and then defeated Kansas State to return to the Final Four for the first time since 1977.

What is the significance of that 1981 NCAA regional? In order to understand, the next few paragraphs will set the scene:

When you examine the flow of this chaotic 2016 college basketball season, one in which no great team exists and every coach has to worry about a conspicuous flaw on his roster, the idea of uninterrupted top-tier consistency becomes more elusive… and more admirable when (or if) it emerges. College basketball is inherently volatile, given that players don’t stick around very long. This year, however, life in the upper reaches of college basketball is an even more precarious existence.

Consider the following: The current No. 1 team (Oklahoma) remained No. 1 in the polls even after a week in which it lost. Iowa, Texas A&M, West Virginia, Xavier, and other schools not generally viewed as national powers have made their way into the top six at some point. LSU — on the NCAA tournament bubble and one of the bigger disappointments in the country — nevertheless entered play on Saturday in a first-place tie in the SEC.

It’s absolute chaos out there… and it’s only one season.

How can a program possibly replicate high-level success without cessation?

John Wooden’s run of seven straight national titles at UCLA, from 1967 through 1973, will always be the gold standard in terms of unchecked college basketball dominance, but on a slightly lower tier (and over a longer period of time), Dean Smith forged an achievement which will continue to grow in stature as the story of college basketball evolves.

That 1981 NCAA West Regional is historically significant because it began one of the great streaks in college sports, a streak akin to Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in the summer of 1941. In 1981, Dean Smith took North Carolina to the Sweet 16. Ronald Reagan had not yet been shot by John Hinckley— that happened on the night the Tar Heels lost to Bob Knight and Indiana in the national championship game. The next time North Carolina failed to get that far in the NCAA tournament, Bill Clinton was already a year into his presidency. The Internet was about to become a regular part of our lives.

Rick Fox (44) of North Carolina celebrates as he runs across the court after sinking the game-winning basket against Oklahoma as time runs out in the NCAA Midwest sub-regional in Austin, Tex., March 17, 1990.  North Carolina won, 79-77.  (AP Photo/Ron Heflin)
Rick Fox (44) of North Carolina celebrates as he runs across the court after sinking the game-winning basket against Oklahoma as time runs out in the NCAA Midwest sub-regional in Austin, Tex., March 17, 1990. North Carolina won, 79-77, preserving a streak of consecutive Sweet 16s which began in 1981. That game and that 1990 season — when UNC was a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tourament — represented the biggest threats to the 13-year run forged by Dean Smith. (AP Photo/Ron Heflin)

That’s right: From 1981 through 1993— 13 straight seasons — North Carolina made the Sweet 16 under Dean Smith. In the era of the seeded NCAA tournament, which began in 1979, no other program has matched that particular streak.

The Final Four might be the holy grail for college basketball programs, but the Sweet 16 has long existed as the more fundamental dividing line between the elites and the commoners in the sport. Dean Smith sustained UNC basketball at a level few of his contemporaries have been able to reach.

Mike Krzyzewski of Duke has surpassed him. Tom Izzo of Michigan State exists on Dean’s level, as does John Calipari of Kentucky. Bill Self is chasing a 12th straight Big 12 title at Kansas, which adds to his legacy. Yet, none of those other four coaches — Coach K, Izzo, Cal, or Self — have been able to reach the Sweet 16 for 13 straight years.

This season, we’re seeing why it’s so tough to constantly make the second weekend of the NCAA tournament for that long a time.

Duke is headed for a mid-level NCAA tournament seed, easily its lowest in many years. Kentucky is almost certain to join Duke as a team seeded no higher than 5 or 6, and very possibly in the 7-9 range. The Wildcats — who missed the NCAAs entirely in 2013 and in the season before Calipari came aboard (2009) — face an uphill battle if they want to make a Sweet 16 this season.

Michigan State has regrouped after a brutal stretch, but the Spartans’ season — as much as Izzo merits a pundit’s trust — has been a study in volatility ever since the calendar changed from 2015 to 2016. Kansas has already lost three Big 12 games with another month of competition left in the conference. If all four teams missed the Sweet 16 this season, it wouldn’t rate as a shock in purely analytical terms. (Michigan State’s absence would be the biggest surprise of the four.)

Every program runs up against an individual season in which accumulated recruiting losses, imprecise chemistry, a few bad bounces, a series of last-second losses, or other plot twists (or any of the above in some combination) take the train off the tracks. The ability of North Carolina, under Dean Smith, to make 13 straight trips to the second weekend of the Big Dance is an accomplishment magnified by this 2016 journey into insanity.

It’s a feat which will only grow larger in the coming years.

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Dean Smith, you were marvelous enough as it was.

You will look even more marvelous 10, 20, and 40 years from now. The odds that another program will match your streak of consecutive Sweet 16s are very low.

About Matt Zemek

Editor,
@TrojansWire
| CFB writer since 2001 |

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