Yahoo Sports is digging into the archives, taking a look back at the moments that shaped sports.
When he woke up on the morning of March 29, 1982, Dean Smith was already a legend.
The North Carolina head coach had tallied a 468-145 record in Chapel Hill. He’d led the United States to a gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He’d been to six Final Fours. He’d led the charge to desegregate sports in North Carolina, signing Charlie Scott as the first black scholarship athlete at UNC in 1967.
He was a giant of the game, one of its great teachers who commanded the respect of his peers and those beyond the basketball world.