Dean Smith was speaking on behalf of the Multiple Sclerosis Society at the
fundraising event. Over $140,000 was raised to help find a cure. Dean
was seated with Coach Matt Doherty and Phil Ford. Dick Grubar, Dave
Colescott, and John Swofford were also in attendance.
Coach Smith received as expected, a standing ovation when Woody Durham
introduced him. Durham and Smith small-talked for a couple of minutes and
then Smith stood and introduced "the 2001 National Coach of the Year and
head basketball coach of the University of North Carolina, Matt
Doherty." Doherty also received a standing ovation, as did Ford when he was introduced.
Coach Smith went on answering several questions from the audience. A few
interesting exchanges were as follows:
One guest asked about the relationships between the various ACC coaches.
Smith said they were very good and all the coaches usually got along. He
described the famous exchange between he and Rick Barnes and said that
Barnes called him that night to apologize and that he was only trying to
energize the Clemson fans. Again said that they remain friends and that
Barnes' daughter wrote him a letter when he retired.
Smith said that the thing he misses most, as he has said before, are the
practices -- that he misses teaching.
Responding to a question about his current involvement with the program, Smith said that he
often sat with recruits for Coach Guthridge and from time to time
offered his opinion on game decisions and tapes when requested. He also
meets recruits for Doherty and has given his opinion and suggestions when
requested and occasionally sat in on practices. He also went on to
say that Guthridge had been coach of the year and Doherty had been
coach of the year, and that even when he coached that the big boosters
offered their "opinions" on coaching, mentioning Koury, Fulton and
Burress by name. Smith closed that answer by saying that Doherty would get
us back to number one and that he is an excellent coach.
Smith said he is not a fan of the current AAU setup which allows coaches
to recruit players from around the country. He feels that it should be
limited by allowing players to only play within 100 miles from home.
He said he is not opposed to players leaving early and it was and
remains a policy of the Carolina staff to provide players with as much
information as possible on the pros and cons and allow the player
and their family to make the decision -- offering personal advice only if
asked, which they always have been. Said that the advice is solely based
on what is best for that player and nothing else.
The most interesting answer of the evening was a response to his best
memories in coaching. Coach Smith reiterated his love of teaching and said
that his favorite memories were at Carolina Basketball camp when at the
end of the week they did the head count and confirmed that no student
had drowned or been run-over – that all were accounted for and going home.