The Tar HeelMonday, August 18, 198629
Even off-season, Beam Smith has his work cut out
By EDDY LANDRETH
Sports Editor
Since basketball is a winter sport,
how does a college basketball coach
spend his summers?
According to North Carolina head
coach Dean Smith, most of the
summer is spent working. "July is our
recruiting month," Smith said.
"We're on the road a great deal."
One reason for this is the many
camps and all-star games that occur
in the summer, with future college
stars on display. Smith said this type
of event enables the coaching staff
to cut down on the trips to assess
new talent.
Sandwiched between several
stacks of papers. Smith noted the
work that literally stood before him.
"We've kinda become a public
relations arm for the University."
Smith said. "So many people write
in and come by. We have three
secretaries and need four."
Also. June is the month when
Chapel Hill is descended upon by a
hoard of children, hoping someday
to wear North Carolina on their
chests. This event is known as the
Carolina Basketball Camp, and
although assistant coach Bill
Guthridge basically operates the
camp. Smith does lecture to the
young hopefuls.
Smith said the camp makes him
more nervous than the games during
the regular season because I feel
responsible for their health."
Of course, the regular season
requires a great deal of time from
a coach. "A lot (of coaches) have
gotten out because you don1! get a
Sunday off," Smith said.
However, he said, he feels he has
been able, to strike a workable
balance between work and his family.
i don't over-work."
In the last few years it has become
popular among certain television
announcers, such as Dick Vitale, to
claim that Dean Smith selects
. recruits. In other words, he can
merely choose his incoming freshmen
from year-to-year.
"1 think it's funny when they say
we select," Smith said. "It would save
a lot of trips if we could. Last year
we visited 10 homes and only got four
of them (prospective players)."
This year's group has been highly
publicized. J.R. Reid has virtually
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been crowned the king of college
basketball and he hasn't played a
game yet. Smith said he is pleased
with this group, but they have yet
to prove themselves.
"We're very happy with our fresh
men group, but they are prospects,"
Smith said. "There isn't anyone who
is sure-fire."
And what does Smith look for in
a prospect? "We look for kids who
will be good representatives of the
University, in addition to being
basketball prospects," he said.
A player is considered a prospect,
Smith said, until he plays against
players older and more experienced
than himself.
Another aspect of recruiting col
lege athletes is the cheating that
occurs in many programs.
Smith said one way to prevent
cheating is not to tell anyone who
you're trying to recruit. He said this
is one method he uses at Carolina.
But, Smith added, "Our alumni are
very proud of the fact that we haven't
cheated and won't." This lessens the
possiblity of wealthy alumni attempt
ing to bribe a player.
The Atlantic Coast Conference as
a whole, Smith said, is a very clean
league, and it seems to occur on a
league-to-league basis. If one team
is cheating and winning, then others
will begin to follow the keeping-up-with-the-Joneses
syndrome.
One possible remedy, he said, is
to punish both the player and the
coach. Declaring a player ineligible
would be a tough decision, he added,
but if players understood the conse
quences, it may make a difference.
Freshman eligibility is a subject
Smith said he feels deeply about. He
said he believes there is a chance now
the NCAA may repeal the rule
allowing freshmen to compete.
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Freshmen were made eligible in 1972.
Freshmen, he explained, need a
year to adjust to college life before
undergoing the rigors of big-time
college sports. This would also solve
many of the problems with grades,
since athletes would have a year to
prove themselves academically on a
collegiate level.
The reason it may pass, he said,
is the higher entrance standards for
freshmen now in effect, which are
rendering some good athletes inelig
ible for their first year. Now, schools
who may have opposed the rule
before are suddenly saying "maybe
we should make all freshmen inelig
ible," Smith said.
During the past few years, televi
sion announcer Dick Vitale has
become like a recording, sounding
the wonders of Dean Smith, with
such blurbs as, "Deany baby, you're
the greatest." Smith rarely gets to
view these moments of worship
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because North Carolina is on the
court. He said he did have the
opportunity to witness one such
worship session on tape and thought,
"please let up."
Smith said he later talked to Vitale.
"I asked him to let up, that all the
other coaches will be mad." Vitale
responded, "I just say what I feel."
And probably added, "But you're
Mr. Basketball, Deany baby."
Coaching college basketball was
not always Smith's goal. "I thought
I was going to be a high school math
teacher, football and basketball
coach," he said.
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Then, he said, he was offered a
graduate coaching position at the
University of Kansas, where he
played baseball, football and basket
ball. The basketball team won the
NCAA championship in 1952 and
finished second the next year.
He came to UNC in 1958 and
became head coach in 1961 when
Frank McGuire left for the National
Basketball Association. During his
career at the University, his teams
have won the NIT and the NCCA
championship. In 1976, he coached
the U.S. Olympic team to the gold
medal in Montreal.
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