Former North Carolina star Rasheed Wallace drops ‘Godfather’ Dean Smith take
North Carolina basketball has either imploded or disappointed on the big stage in recent years, but their prestige and tradition continues to resonate with prospective recruits. The legacy that Dean Smith started to build more than half a century ago still serves as a driving force of the Tar Heels’ enduring prominence and intrigue.
While there are other college head coaches who will be placed above him, there may not be another one who commanded a room quite like the two-time national champion. One of his former players is supporting that notion and believes that it is impossible to fill Smith’s enormous shoes in the state of North Carolina.
“Coach Smith was a G, though, Dawg,” former NBA champion and Tar Heels star Rasheed Wallace said of his former HC while talking to Vernon Maxwell (two rings in his own right), via Bovada. “He’s a very, very great man, very knowledgeable about this game of basketball and life. And he was such a basketball god down here. No disrespect to Coach K {Duke legend Mike Krzyzewski}… but it’s just a difference with Coach Smith. Like some Godfather s**t… He was so great a coach and a person you felt humble… you give him all the Buddha bows. Coach Smith is the GOAT.”
“Coach (Dean) Smith is the goat”
UNC alum Rasheed Wallace discusses the “Godfather” of hoops; Coach Dean Smith with @VernonMaxwell11 pic.twitter.com/wp2MPBOanu
— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) October 7, 2024
Dean Smith is embedded in the North Carolina basketball culture
Wallace is obviously bias, considering he played for the “Godfather” from 1993-95, but Dean Smith emitted a special aura that helped make Chapel Hill a hallowed hoops institution. In addition to the four-time All-Star, who was part of one of the most improbable NBA title runs ever with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, the Tar Heels icon coached Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Bob McAdoo and Vince Carter, among others. His impact continues to persist both at North Carolina and in the sport as a whole.
Smith, who passed away at the age of 83 in 2015 after a long battle with dementia, remains a beloved figure at the ACC staple. He has the seventh-most wins in NCAA history (879) and has his name plastered on the building that North Carolina basketball calls home.
When prospects like four-star recruit Derek Dixon commit to the Heels in the year 2024 and going forward, they may not realize it, but Smith is heavily responsible for the allure that draws them towards 300 Skipper Bowles Drive.
Rasheed Wallace definitely does, though.
The post Former North Carolina star Rasheed Wallace drops ‘Godfather’ Dean Smith take appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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