Dean Smith wasn’t always beloved in Chapel Hill. In fact, there once was a time when an awful lot of folks didn’t care too much for him at all. And on January 6th, 1965, some of them felt strongly enough to put on one of the most embarrassing and shameful displays in the history of North Carolina. And then they were well and truly schooled by Mr. Dean Edwards Smith.
To understand the significance of this moment, we need to understand what Carolina had become. The victorious reign of Frank McGuire, which had produced the legendary 1957 title winners, had come crashing down at the start of the 1960s.