COMMENTARY : Six Degrees of Dean Smith

You know how to play the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” don’t you? It’s a kind of connect-the-dots in which every name has a direct, linear connection to the previous one. The aim is to link the ubiquitous actor Kevin Bacon with someone far afield, in six steps.

In this case, in honor of the fact that he is poised to become the winningest Division I college basketball coach of all time, we’re going to play with: Dean Smith.

For example: Dean Smith, head coach at North Carolina, connects to Eddie Fogler, a former assistant to Dean at North Carolina, who now coaches at South Carolina, which is seeded No. 2 in the East Region, and would play North Carolina in the regional final.

Fogler connects with Roy Williams, who was also an assistant to Dean at North Carolina, and who is now head coach at Kansas, which is seeded No. 1 in the Southeast, and would meet North Carolina in the Final Four. (Tributaries off Williams include Kevin Stallings, Williams’s assistant at Kansas, now head coach at Illinois State, and Steve Robinson, another assistant at Kansas, now head coach at Tulsa.)

Kansas, the tournament favorite, is, of course, the alma mater of . . . Dean Smith.

You see how it works?

Okay: Dean Smith needs two victories to break Adolph Rupp’s record of 876.

Dean Smith. Adolph Rupp, Kentucky coach. Rick Pitino, Kentucky coach, U-Mass. alum.

Let’s pick it up from Pitino, the U-Mass alum, to Bruiser Flint, coach at U-Mass, to Flint’s old boss at U-Mass, John Calipari, who was once an assistant at Kansas for Larry Brown, who played at North Carolina for . . . Dean Smith.

Larry Brown, college coach at Kansas and UCLA, and ABA coach at Carolina Cougars and Denver Rockets. Lou Carnesecca, college coach and ABA coach against Brown at New York Nets. Looie’s assistant, John Kresse, now head coach at College of Charleston. College of Charleston. Charleston Southern. Southern California. South Alabama. Bill Musselman, now head coach at South Alabama, 25 years ago was head coach at Minnesota. Clem Haskins, now head coach at Minnesota, alum of Western Kentucky, coached recently by Ralph Willard, former assistant to Rick Pitino. Eddie Sutton. Joe B. Hall. Adolph Rupp. . . . Dean Smith.

Dean Smith, his last 33 years coaching in the ACC--incredibly, never finishing below third in a conference where every other school has finished last at least twice. Like Duke. Clemson. Rick Barnes, head coach at Clemson, once an assistant to Gary Williams, now head coach at Maryland. Williams, once an assistant to Tom Davis at American. Tom Davis, head coach at Iowa, former head coach at Boston College. Jim O’Brien, now head coach at BC, succeeding Williams, who moved from the Big East to the Big Ten to the ACC, where this season he beat Wake Forest, coached by Dave Odom, and Virginia, coached by Jeff Jones, both of whom were assistants to Terry Holland, now head of the NCAA tournament selection committee. Terry Holland once owned a dog named . . . Dean Smith.

Dean Smith, U.S. Olympic coach, 1976. Tar Heels Phil Ford, Mitch Kupchak, Tommy LaGarde, Walter Davis. John Thompson, U.S. Olympic coach, 1988, head coach Georgetown, Dean Smith’s Olympic assistant in 1976. Quinn Buckner, a member of that team. Buckner, played for Bobby Knight, head coach Indiana.

Knight, U.S. Olympic coach 1984. Michael Jordan, member of Knight’s Olympic team. It’s said the only man who ever held Jordan under 20 points was . . . Dean Smith.

Lefty Driesell (Albert King, Buck Williams, Len Bias). Mike Krzyzewski (Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill). Jim Valvano (Derek Whittenburg, Sidney Lowe). Norm Sloan (Tom Burleson, Monte Towe, David Thompson). Terry Holland (Ralph Sampson, Wally Walker). Steve Fisher. John Thompson. Al McGuire. John Wooden. . . . Dean Smith.

Dean Smith. Michael Jordan. James Worthy. Sam Perkins. Larry Miller. Charlie Scott. Brad Daugherty. Bob McAdoo. Mike O’Koren. Eric Montross. Kenny Smith. Jerry Stackhouse. Rasheed Wallace. Phil Ford. Billy Cunningham. Doug Moe. Donnie Walsh. Larry Brown. George Karl. Eddie Fogler. Roy Williams. . . . Dean Smith.

Dean Smith. Four Corners. Blue Team. Carolina Blue. Alexander Julian. Oscar de la Renta. Veal Oscar. Herman Veal. Lefty Driesell. . . . Dean Smith.

Tar Heels. High Heels. Tina Turner. Proud Mary. St. Mary’s. St. Joseph’s. St. John’s. Joe Lapchick. Adolph Rupp. . . . Dean Smith.

Frank McGuire. Lenny Rosenbluth. Wilt Chamberlain. Jerry West. Magic Johnson. Larry Bird. Boston Garden. Boston Market. Market share. CBS. Final Four. . . . Dean Smith.