RIP Coach Smith
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Lost of a great KU alum. Once a Jayhawk always a Jayhawk.
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He was a giant.
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Sometimes the good don’t die young.
I had my bones to pick with Dean’s treatment of KU.
But about his loyalty to UNC and his brilliance and contribution to the game, he stands out like the evening star.
He learned from a great one.
He became a great one.
He taught two great ones.
He schooled the game’s greatest 2-3 swing man.
Rock Chalk!
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@jaybate-1.0 when you think of Dean Smith, you think about College Basketball. One of the all time greats in basketball and in life. He will be missed.
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@jaybate-1.0 I don’t know Dean Smith’s legacy other than he was a KU alum & successful as UNC coach. Besides sending us Roy Wms & telling him not to recruit against Smith, and how Smith didn’t want to return to KU to coach, I have no loyalty to him. Would you like to share what your beef is with Smith. All said, may he rest in peace.
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@HawksWin If memory serves, I don’t think Brown engagement can be linked directly to Smith. IMO, Brown was the one who revitalized KU BB after Owen’s consecutive losing seasons (82 and 83). Brown came to KU with a package in Danny Manning. Danny’s late father, Ed was hired as assistant coach and Danny was then transfered to Lawrence High for his senior year.
IMO, Danny was recruited from Greensboro, NC, right under Smith’s radar. I don’t recall Smith was tugging Danny with Brown. Allow me to be assumptive, if Smith would want to tell Danny not to join a program with consecutive losing seasons, it is not very difficult to do so. I think we all remembered, 1982, UNC won NC with Jordan.
With Danny and 1988 NC, KU BB was revitalized.
Without Smith’s blessing and support, I don’t think Roy would be hired out from UNC. I remembered asking myself: Roy, who? It followed with 15 years of glories (despite having won a NC).
Brown and Wlliams gave us 20 years of good KU BB and reestablished KU as one of National Power Houses.
I respect him as he was a fellow Jayhawk, a great Coach and for those things said above that he may have done. RCJH!
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Another thread sometime, yes, but not this one. The man who contributed as much to integrating basketball to all persons, for all persons, deserves nothing here but our gratitude. You have to remember how much he had to lose in 1948 in Topeka, or 1958 in North Carolina, how many DID NOT do what he did, in the kinds of places he did it in, when he did not have to do it, to understand the esteem he is held in, by so many.
He endangered himself, his family and his career doing the right thing for his players, his profession, his schools, his communities and his country, at a time when he did not have to, and when many did not.
This takes the greatest courage of all, even when there is potential selfish advantage in doing so.
Doing good others fear they might not have the courage to do rightly earns respect and gratitude.
The way racism in America has always worked is by terrorizing good people among blacks AND whites into complying with its unfairness. For doing the wrong thing, for complying with the evil of discrimination, you get to live, and have a family, some kind of work and something to eat; less if you are black, more if you are white, For doing the right thing, you are threatened with loss of all these. Racism victimizes everyone in pursuit of asymmetric distribution of costs and benefits of human life for a few.
Dean Smith didn’t go along, when a lot of whites and blacks were going along. What is so hard to remember now is that MOST good black and white persons in America never marched , or protested, or organized, or donated money. Most good persons–white and black–free road on those who did do those things. That is the ugly truth of all movements that have advanced the common good. Mostly a few have taken the risks and paid the price for the many.
It is not that he was first. He was not.
It was not that he was a leader of a movement, for he was not.
It was that he was an extraordinary ordinary man who simply acted honorably when it made a difference.
It was that he acted at all.
Rock Chalk!
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@HawksWin ditto
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@jaybate-1.0 I say ditto because I also do not know what Coach Smith did to slight KU in any way. It was, quite frankly, before my time. Way before I really started paying attention to the game itself, not just KU hoops.
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Sometimes we need to check to see if a thread has already been started on a topic because this topic was already posted with some great pics by @wrwlumpy.
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@wissoxfan83 Thanks. I did take a glance and missed that. I do agree with you that it would be a good and courteous protocol to observe before posting. I like lumpy’s. I tried to delete the Thread. But, i don’t think i can. RCJH!
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@Shanghai_RCJH I shouldn’t have picked on you specifically as it happens frequently I think. Thanks for your gracious response. RCJHKU
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@wissoxfan83 Not sure what was wrong with my computer. Anyway, I meant to say thanks! Appreciated. I think we all Bucketers should maintain a good posting culture here.
I am sure you realize that we are going to hit 20 K Users soon. I am not sure there is any site like our in the country. Personally, I think it is a great achievement.
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I agree with you. One of these day we should have another thread on Coach Smith and his legacy vis-a-vis KU.
