University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Chills
February 7, 2009 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Feb. 7, 2009
By Adam Lucas
When his son enrolled at the University of North Carolina, Michael Copeland Sr. had a few things he wanted to accomplish. See his son wearing a Carolina jersey with "Copeland" on the back, for one. Watch his son run out of the tunnel with the band playing the fight song, for another.
And meet Dean Smith.
One day, the chance arrived. The elder Copeland was in the Carolina locker room and his son informed him Smith was across the hall in the trainer's room. "Come on," said Mike Copeland Jr. "I'll introduce you."
Copeland Sr. still laughs at what he said next, but it's one of those laughs that tells you he'd do the same thing again right now if he had the chance. He looked at his son, looked across the hall at the trainer's room, and said, "Nah, man. I'm too nervous. I can't go talk to Coach Smith."
Smith himself would recoil at this story, of course. He's probably writing Copeland Sr. a note right now, pleading with him to introduce himself at the very next opportunity.
He does that, you know--write notes. Bobby Frasor's dad is a coach, so he appreciates great coaches. He once paid to go to a 2-day coaching clinic in Chicago at which Smith was a speaker, and he proudly keeps a photo of Smith and the younger Frasor that was taken on Bobby's recruiting visit.
A few months into Frasor's freshman year, Frasor Sr. received a strange letter in the mail. The return address was Chapel Hill, and inside was a local newspaper story about Frasor's freshman season. The handwritten note read as follows:
"When I was in school, I know my mom and dad would've liked to see articles about me, but I never sent them. I hope you'll enjoy this one."
Signed (of course), Dean Smith.
The elder Frasor's eyes get big when he recounts this story. "This is a Hall of Famer," he says. "A Hall of Famer who takes the time to send letters like that. I can't tell you how touching that is."
Smith was recognized during Saturday's 15-point victory over Virginia, along with four other living Tar Heel Hall of Famers--James Worthy, Billy Cunningham, Bob McAdoo and Roy Williams (Larry Brown could not attend due to NBA obligations). He handled it exactly like you knew he would, looking completely uncomfortable with the attention, pointing to his players as he did after cutting down every net of his career, and trying to get the crowd to be quiet.
But they wouldn't be quiet, because this was the highlight of the game. SportsCenter might show a Wayne Ellington jumper or a Ty Lawson pass, but the 20,879 in attendance know otherwise. If you didn't get chills when Smith walked to midcourt, then you must think 8 in 17 is just a set of random numbers, four corners is just part of a square, and "Knock it in, Michael," is just another phrase.
Hold on a minute. The attendance on this day--of all days--was 20,879? 879 as in 879 wins, the final victory total of the greatest coach of all time?
This seems like a good time to personally thank the 20,880th person, who presumably decided to play golf rather than come to the game. By not coming, you missed a season highlight (Seriously, would anyone object if Dean Smith was honored once per season from now until eternity?) but you also made this a perfect afternoon.
"When Coach Smith walks into a room, everything changes," said Tyler Hansbrough. "Here's a guy who has done so much for Carolina Basketball. He is the godfather, and he is a great guy to talk to. He's a great person to get advice from."
Hansbrough pauses, and then he does something he has never done after a game. He admits some fear.
"I still get a little nervous around him. I think of everything he accomplished and provided for this program. I didn't even really feel good saying hello to him until midway through my sophomore year."
When Smith walked to midcourt, the crowd stood and roared. Just as they were about to go quiet, Cunningham pointed to Smith again, and they roared again. My 3-year-old son looked at me. "Who is that man?" he asked.
I didn't have a very good answer. Saying, "He used to be Carolina's coach," didn't seem close to adequate. My son never saw Smith orchestrate one of those patented late-game comebacks or out-gameplan a faster (Loyola Marymount), more talented (Kentucky) opponent. He didn't know that Smith took a program that was close to being shut down and made it into the nation's best. He's too young to know that Smith believed in taking a stand off the court back when doing so wasn't just daring--it was dangerous.
Turns out, I should've just asked Copeland, the new member of Carolina's rotation, how to describe Smith.
"Growing up watching him, you saw how he did things," the senior Tar Heel said. "Now, you see how we do things, and they're very similar. They're connected. All of this, everything about this, Coach Smith started it."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.
