Photograph by Brian Lanker

"Time, too, has drawn for us a portrait of someone far more complex than the usual sideline screamer. Smith is a privacy freak who thrived gracefully in an intensely public line of work. He's a traditionalist who will rejigger anything if reason warrants. We marvel at how a man so stern summons such compassion, and a man so competitive summons such perspective; how he simultaneously tends to niggling detail and sees the big picture; and how he makes his wondrously jesuitical distinctions. Loyalty versus Integrity is the trade-off that college coaches have never gotten quite right, but he has proved it's possible to abide by both."

Text by Alexander Wolff
Issue Date: December 12, 1997

When Dean Smith retired before the start of the 1997-98 college basketball season, he left the court as the winningest coach in the history of the college game. In his 36 years at North Carolina, Smith's record was 879-254 (a .776 winning percentage). He coached 26 All-Americans and led his team to 27 consecutive 20-win seasons and 23 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.