Dean Smith autographed this official Nike college basketball for the Benedictine Blast.

Dean Smith spent 39 years of his life coaching at UNC - the first three years as an assistant and the final 36 as the head coach. By the time he retired, he was the winningest and most respected coach in the history of the game. His intelligence, his innovation, and his love for his players are only a few of the traits that separate him from others. He will always be remembered for down-playing his accomplishments and giving credit to his players.

This is just a partial list of Dean's accomplishments:

He won more games than any other coach in the history of college basketball with 879 against just 254 losses. The Tar Heels finished in the top three in the ACC in each of his final 33 years including 17 times in first place, 11 times in second place, and only 5 times in third place.

The Tar Heels won at least 20 games in each of his final 27 years and 30 of his final 31 years.

He owns the NCAA record for the most 25 win seasons at 22. Jerry Tarkanian is a distant second with 14.

He is the winningest coach in the history of the NCAA tournament with 65 victories.

His teams qualified for the NCAA tournament a record 23 consecutive years while 27 of his final 31 teams also qualified.

His teams finished ranked in the top 15 in 28 of his final 31 years while finishing in the top 10 for 23 of those years.

His teams won 13 ACC tournament championships.

His teams made it to the Final Four 11 times, only one short of the all-time record of 12 by John Wooden and won two national championships.

He coached the USA Olympics team to a gold medal in 1976.

He was named National Coach of the Year by various organizations in 1977, 1979, 1982, and 1993.

He was named Sportsman of the Year in 1997 by Sports Illustrated.

He was named the second greatest coach in the history of the game in 2000 by the NABC behind John Wooden.

He was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1983.

He was voted ACC Coach of the Year eight times.

Six of his players were voted NBA or ABA rookie of the year - Charlie Scott, Robert McAdoo, Walter Davis, Phil Ford, Michael Jordan, and Vince Carter.

The basketball arena at North Carolina, The Dean Smith Center, was named for Smith.  It's widely known as "The Dean Dome."