Here are links to coverage and reports on the death of legendary University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith.
"Born February 28, 1931, in Emporia, Kan., Dean Edwards Smith grew up as the son of public school teachers. He graduated from Topeka High School in 1949 and went to the University of Kansas on an academic scholarship. He played varsity basketball and baseball and freshman football for the Jayhawks. He was a member of Jayhawk basketball teams that won the NCAA title in 1952 and finished second in 1953."
-- Obituary and official statement from the University of North Carolina.
"There was one moment when Smith, who died Saturday night at 83, had to choose between principles, when a lifetime of devotion to liberal and progressive causes came into conflict with perhaps the only thing he treasured more: the people around him. Smith chose loyalty."
-- Column by Luke DeCock of the Charlotte Observer.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2015/02/08/5502225/decock-for-dean-smith-loyalty.html#.VNeHXS5BF1U#storylink=cpy"Despite all his success, and there was much success, Dean Smith was more than a coach. Smith, who died Saturday evening at age 83, took boys and molded them into basketball players, took basketball players and molded them into men."
-- Complete coverage from the Charlotte Observer.
"President Obama awarded Smith the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, in November 2013, presenting it to his wife, Linnea, who represented him at a White House ceremony. In addition to citing Smith's achievements on the court, Mr. Obama praised his "courage in helping to change our country" through his progressive views on race relations. He drew on a moral code implanted by his parents in Depression-era Kansas to break racial barriers in a changing South. He challenged segregation and recruited Charlie Scott, who became the first starring black basketball player in the Atlantic Coast Conference."
