The Dean of Tar Heels Is in the Minority, He Likes the 3-Point Basket

In downtown Chapel Hill, there’s a restaurant named “The Four Corners,” a reminder of years past when the four-cornered offense was a part of college basketball made famous by the North Carolina Tar Heels and Coach Dean Smith.

It was also booooring.

So NCAA rulesmakers legislated against eating up the clock to protect a lead.

The 45-second shot clock then came into being, and this season the three-point goal has been added.

Now, Smith, the man who bored many fans with his four-corners offense, is in favor of exciting basketball.

Smith is in the minority among the Division I coaches concerning the three-point goal. He likes it and doesn’t think the 19 feet, 9 inch range is too short.

“Years from now,” Smith said, “we’ll look back and wonder what all the controversy was about. It’ll be like the center jump being done away with after each goal.

“From a coach’s point of view it may bother me, but I like it because it’s for the good of the game. The players like it and the fans like it. It’s exciting and keeps fans in the stands late in the game.”

Smith believes the three-point goal is necessary because of the 45-second clock.

“If you have one, you need the other,” he said. “We need the three-point goal for the lower Division I teams. That can help those teams who don’t have big men, ones that can’t rebound against bigger teams.

“If you have just a time clock without the three-point play, teams would pack their defenses back in and poor rebounding teams would have no chance to win. Before the clock, you could hold the ball. Now if you’re really outmanned, you can work on shooting the three-pointer. If you’re shooting well, you can win the game.”

Smith doesn’t buy the argument that the distance is too short.

“If it’s so easy, like so many people say,” Smith said, “why don’t teams shoot it 20 times a game?”

While “The Four Corners” is a reminder of the past, the “Dean Dome,” formally known as the Dean E. Smith Student Athletic Center, is a monument to Smith’s accomplishments.

Smith entered this season with 579 victories against 171 losses in 25 years at North Carolina. His winning percentage of .772 makes him the fourth-winningest coach among those who have coached at least 20 seasons on the major college level. Ahead of him are Clair Bee, Adolph Rupp and John Wooden.

While sixteen of his former players are playing professional ball, Smith thinks it more significant that 149 of the 156 letterman who played under him graduated.

North Carolina has made the NCAA tournament each of of the past 12 seasons, winning the title in 1982.

The 21,444-seat--all Carolina blue--arena opened Jan. 18, 1986 after $38 million was raised through private gifts and pledges.

In the new building Smith has at his disposal all the up-to-date technology to make his job easier, including satellite TV for scouting opponents and VCRs.

He has been a lot faster adjusting to the three-point goal than he has to his new gadgetry.

“I don’t know how to work them yet,” he said.