Dean Smith Charged With Speeding

Dean Smith, North Carolina basketball coach, was charged with speeding and reckless driving last month in Virginia, officials say.

Larry D. Bishop, a Virginia State Police trooper, said Monday he clocked Smith’s speed with radar at 76 m.p.h. in a 55-m.p.h. zone on the night of Jan. 15. Earlier that evening his team was defeated by Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

If convicted, Smith, who did not return calls Monday, could lose his driver’s license for up to a year.

Smith has been charged with speeding four other times since 1980, according to Department of Motor Vehicle records. He was convicted last November of going 64 in a 55-m.p.h. zone. In 1985, he was convicted of exceeding the safe speed limit, but records do not show his speed.

He received a prayer for judgment on a 1984 charge of driving going 64 in a 55-m.p.h. zone, and a 1980 charge of going 70 in a 55-m.p.h. zone. A prayer for judgment means he was found guilty but no judgment was entered.