Dean E. Smith, a white basketball coach, was born on February 28, 1931, in Emporia, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1953, having been a member of the Jayhawks basketball team that won the national championship in 1952 and finished second in 1953. After graduation, he acted as an assistant basketball coach at the University of Kansas until he joined the Air Force in 1954. While in the Air Force, he played and coached basketball in Germany and at the Air Force Academy.
His time at UNC began in 1958 when then-coach Frank McGuire asked him to join the basketball staff as an assistant coach. Smith was promoted to head coach in 1961, with this first year being his only losing year in that position. Smith was vehemently anti-segregation and actively recruited Black players to the team, including Charles Scott, UNC’s first Black scholarship athlete.
Smith retired in 1997, with what was at the time the record for the most wins of any Division I coach. During his career as head coach, UNC won two national championships and appeared in eleven Final Fours. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. He passed away on February 7, 2015, in Chapel Hill.
The Dean Smith Student Activities Center, also known as the Dean Dome, was built to replace the Carmichael Auditorium as the home of UNC basketball. Fundraising began in 1980, spearheaded by Hargrove “Skipper” Bowles. $35 million was raised, with donations ranging between $1 and $1 million. The opening game was played on January 18, 1986, against Duke, with UNC winning 95-92. The ticket in the mural refers to the “Bloody Montross” game played between UNC and Duke on February 5, 1992, with UNC winning 75-73. The building still houses UNC men’s basketball and has a capacity of 21,750 seats.