On This Date: Dean Smith Walks Away With 879 Wins and a Team Built to Win It All (Oct. 9, 1997)

Dean Smith left with 879 wins, the most in college basketball history at the time. 2 national titles. 11 Final Fours. He coached Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Vince Carter. And on October 9, 1997, with one of the best teams he ever put together coming back, he quit. Practice started in about a week and a half.

A Kansas kid

Smith was a backup guard on the 1952 Kansas team that won the national title under Phog Allen. In 1961, at 30, he took over at North Carolina.

It did not start well. In January 1965, after a 107-85 loss at Wake Forest, students hung him in effigy outside the gym. His best player, Billy Cunningham, got off the bus and tore it down.

He was never hung in effigy again. In 1966, Smith brought in Charlie Scott, the first Black scholarship athlete at North Carolina. Scott took Carolina to 2 Final Fours and is in the Hall of Fame. Then came Bob McAdoo. Walter Davis. Phil Ford, running the Four Corners offense until the other team gave up.

Jordan

In 1982, Smith had James Worthy, Sam Perkins and a freshman named Michael Jordan. Jordan hit the jumper from the left wing in the final seconds against Georgetown, and North Carolina won 63-62 for Smith's first national title. He had been to 6 Final Fours without one.

2 years later, Carolina had Jordan, Perkins, Brad Daugherty and Kenny Smith, all future first-round picks, and was ranked No. 1. Indiana beat them 72-68 in the Sweet 16. That's where the joke comes from. Who's the only man who could hold Michael Jordan under 20 points? Dean Smith. Jordan averaged 17.7 at Carolina, and he'll tell you he was better for it.

The last run

In 1993, Smith won his second title, 77-71 over Michigan, the night Chris Webber called a timeout his team didn't have. In 1995, Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace took Carolina to the Final Four, then both left for the NBA, picks 3 and 4 in the draft.

On March 15, 1997, Smith beat Colorado 73-56 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for win number 877, passing Adolph Rupp. 2 weeks later, Arizona beat Carolina 66-58 in the Final Four. Nobody knew it was his last game.

October 9, 1997

Smith had always said he would decide in the fall, not right after a season, when every coach wants to come back. On October 9, at a press conference in the Dean E. Smith Center, he stepped down. His assistant of 30 years, Bill Guthridge, got the job.

And look what Guthridge inherited. Antawn Jamison, the national player of the year. Vince Carter. Ed Cota, Shammond Williams, a freshman named Brendan Haywood. Carolina went 34-4, finished No. 1, and beat Duke for the ACC title. 34 wins was the most ever by a first-year head coach.

In the Final Four, they ran into Utah. Carolina trailed by 15 in the second half and went 3 for 23 from 3. Utah 65, North Carolina 59. That June, Jamison and Carter went 4th and 5th in the draft, and got traded for each other on draft night.

So would Dean have won it?

Probably not. Same players, same system, same staff. Guthridge had sat next to him for 30 years. Smith didn't lose to Utah. 3 for 23 did. Dean Smith went to 11 Final Fours and won 2 of them. He knew better than anybody that March doesn't care who's in the chair.

Dean Smith died on February 7, 2015. In his will, he left $200 to every letterman he ever coached, about 180 of them, with a note: "Enjoy a dinner out, compliments of Coach Dean Smith." He was the only coach who ever held Michael Jordan under 20, and he was still picking up the check.

Your turn

Would Dean have beaten Utah? Was 1997-98 his best team, or was it 1984? Tell us in the comments.