The "Dean" of college basketball is gone.
North Carolina basketball coaching legend Dean Smith, whose career included so much more than 879 wins, a 30-year domination of ACC basketball and two national championships, died peacefully at his Chapel Hill home Saturday night at age 83 with his wife and five children at his side.
WNC native Roy Williams, the current North Carolina coach who spent 10 years as Smith's assistant, said Smith "was the greatest there ever was on the court but far, far better off the court with people."
"I'd like to say on behalf of all our players and coaches, past and present, that Dean Smith was the perfect picture of what a college basketball coach should have been," Williams said in a statement. "We love him and we will miss him."
Smith coached the Tar Heels from 1961-97. He retired as the winningest coach in the sport with 879 victories. He won NCAA titles in 1982 and 1993, and coached such players as Michael Jordan and James Worthy.
He reached 11 Final Fours, won 13 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament titles and coached the U.S. Olympic team to the gold medal in 1976.
Smith had health issues in recent years, with the family saying in 2010 he had a condition that was causing him to lose memory. He had kept a lower profile during that time, with his wife, Linnea, accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom on his behalf from President Barack Obama in November 2013.
University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball coach emeritus Pat Summitt noted Smith's death by tweeting, "Sending my prayers and deepest sympathies to Dean Smith's family. May we celebrate the gift we all were given with his life."
Former Asheville High standout Buzz Peterson, who played on Smith's first national title team in 1982, said Smith's legacy reached far beyond the wins and titles.
"He was a man and a coach whose impact was felt by everyone who was associated with him," said Peterson.
"He impacted lives in such a positive way. Basketball wasn't the most important thing to him, and he taught us that you should be concerned about how your life was going, and then academics, and then there was basketball.
"He asked you what you wanted to do with your life and then made sure he did everything he could to help you reach your goals."
"He was more than a coach — he was a mentor, my teacher, my second father," said former UNC player and NBA legend Michael Jordan. "Coach was always there for me whenever I needed him and I loved him for it."
"My heart goes out to (Smith's wife) Linnea and their kids. We've lost a great man who had an incredible impact on his players his staff and the entire UNC family."
ACC commissioner John Swofford worked with Smith as athletic director at UNC.
"We've known for a while this day would come, but it still hits hard," Swofford said.
"Sometimes we are blessed to be around certain people in our lives. For me, one of those people was Dean Smith. For 21 years I had the privilege of working with him.
"He personified excellence day-in and day-out, year-in and year-out. The remarkable number of wins is well chronicled, but most importantly those wins came while teaching and living the right values. He won, his players graduated and he played by the rules. He was first and foremost a teacher, and his players were always the most important part of his agenda.
'His impact on the University of North Carolina, the Atlantic Coast Conference, college basketball and the sport itself, is immeasurable. His leadership off the court in areas such as race relations and education were less chronicled, but just as important.
"Sometimes the word legend is used with too little thought. In this instance, it almost seems inadequate. He was basketball royalty, and we have lost one of the greats in Dean Smith."
