RON MALY HAS BEEN WATCHING THE PARADE GO BY FOR A LONG TIME. THIS IS ONE OF HIS WEBSITES.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Dean Smith Had an 879-254 Coaching Record At North Carolina, But One Of Those 254 Losses Was To Maury John's Amazing 1968-69 Drake Team That Walloped the Tar Heels, 104-84, In the Third-Place Game At the Final Four In Louisville, Ky.

By RON MALY

I join others with a fondness for collegiate  basketball in mourning the death of Dean Smith, 83, who had an 879-254 record in 36 seasons as
Dean Smith in 2007 with Michael Jordan, who played for him at North Carolina
North Carolina's coach. 

I also want to remind people that one of those 254 losses was a barnburner of a game in which Smith and his team were thoroughly thrashed. 

It was a 104-84 loss to Drake in the third-place game of the 1969 NCAA Final Four at Louisville, Ky. 

The fact that Maury John's Bulldogs crushed Smith's Tar Heels in such fashion further illustrated what an amazing coach Maury John, was and what a superb job he did at Drake. 

I was on the scene for, and wrote about, several games in which Dean Smith coached. 

One was at Pauley Pavilion in Westwood, Calif., where his team lost to John Wooden's UCLA squad. 

I attended Smith's postgame press conference, and was amazed that he smoked several cigarettes while answering reporters' questions. 

I had never seen that happen before, and I have not seen any coach smoke cigarettes during a press conference since.

I never even saw Ralph Miller, the chain-smoking former Iowa coach, light up while participating in press conferences.