Classic Dean Smith Quote

Those of you who are relatively new to the ACC certainly know who Dean Smith is. He’s the legendary coach from North Carolina, known not only for his Xs and Os, but for his gentlemanly manners and the love of his players.
What you may not remember though is that Smith was not just one of the best coaches ever, but he was one of the best ever at the back-handed compliment. Coach Smith loved to jab his rivals while pretending to compliment them. Take the quotes from this article about Mike Krzyzewski catching Dean Smith’s NCAA win record.

“I didn’t realize that,” Smith said recently by phone from his office in the Dean E. Smith center, nine miles from Cameron Indoor Stadium and Coach K Court. “It isn’t fair for John Wooden, Frank McGuire, Pete Newell and Henry Iba. Mike and I had it great, when more than one team from each conference got in. You used to have to win the conference tournament to get in.”
Yes, in fairness to Smith — not to mention those championship coaches of an earlier era — in his first 14 years at North Carolina, ACC teams had to win the conference tournament to advance. When he made his first NCAA tournament in 1967, the field was 23 teams, nine of which had first-round byes. There were fewer games to play and tougher matchups sooner.
When Krzyzewski made his second NCAA tournament in 1985, almost 20 years later, the field was expanded to 64 teams.
“Mike certainly has done a great job in the tournament,” said Smith, who has 11 Final Fours and two national championships to Krzyzewski’s 10 Final Fours and three titles. “I thought he’d probably have had it a long time ago.”

I thought he’d probably have had it a long time ago.
The man still has the touch!
Thanks to the ACC Basketblog for the find.


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