UNC Basketball History
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donbosco
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134 Years Ago on December 21, 1891 Dr. James Naismith, teaching at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, tossed out the first ball and nailed up a peach basket and the truly beautiful game came into being.
Naismith coached basketball at the University of Kansas. One of his players was Phog Allen, who himself became the coach at Kansas. A young Dean Smith played for Coach Allen, Hubert Davis played for Dean Smith, and the rest is local alma mater history.
Naismith coached basketball at the University of Kansas. One of his players was Phog Allen, who himself became the coach at Kansas. A young Dean Smith played for Coach Allen, Hubert Davis played for Dean Smith, and the rest is local alma mater history.
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donbosco
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Please Read “The transparent story of a remarkable life’s journey—to the highest level of success as a basketball player, the NBA. The depths of personal trauma and pain are core moments in this journey Scott Williams takes us on.
Williams always had fire. He writes candidly about his trauma, the death of his parents, and the circumstances that directly impacted the rest of his life. He writes candidly about all of it, including his time on the court with basketball legend, Michael Jordan, and his detailed opinion and comparison of Michael Jordan and Lebron James.
With vulnerability and obvious insight, Williams relates his entire path, including the most painful parts of it, to his three-peat championships and overall success. Williams’ ability to pull inspiration from around him and overcoming obstacles shows his strength. This compelling story shows the true heart and game of Williams.
"Dean Smith, small and confident, sat at our kitchen table. “If you come to the University of North Carolina I can promise you two things: one, you’ll get a quality education and two, you’ll leave a better person,” he said. An education and a better person. No other coach had said that. After my junior year in high school I played well at the Five-Star Camp in Western Pennsylvania and my recruiting letters changed from Cal State-Bakersfield to major programs like UCLA. Among the letters was a note from Dean Smith, Head Coach, University of North Carolina, the man who would change my life. The man who would save my life. Coach Smith was different from the other coaches who visited. Jim Valvano and his assistant coach, Tom Abatemarco, got into an argument in my living room when Abatemarco corrected Valvano. They were nose to nose. I knew I didn’t want that. I’d had enough yelling in my life. What stood out about Coach Smith, sitting at our kitchen table, was how down-to earth he was. He had won a national championship and an Olympic Gold Medal. He had coached numerous pro players, including my hero James Worthy and the current NBA sensation Michael Jordan. And yet Coach Smith wasn’t over-selling the program. He wasn’t meek or soft-spoken but he also wasn’t over-the-top. He was confident and humble at the same time. A quality education and a better person. That’s all Coach Smith promised."
Williams always had fire. He writes candidly about his trauma, the death of his parents, and the circumstances that directly impacted the rest of his life. He writes candidly about all of it, including his time on the court with basketball legend, Michael Jordan, and his detailed opinion and comparison of Michael Jordan and Lebron James.
With vulnerability and obvious insight, Williams relates his entire path, including the most painful parts of it, to his three-peat championships and overall success. Williams’ ability to pull inspiration from around him and overcoming obstacles shows his strength. This compelling story shows the true heart and game of Williams.
"Dean Smith, small and confident, sat at our kitchen table. “If you come to the University of North Carolina I can promise you two things: one, you’ll get a quality education and two, you’ll leave a better person,” he said. An education and a better person. No other coach had said that. After my junior year in high school I played well at the Five-Star Camp in Western Pennsylvania and my recruiting letters changed from Cal State-Bakersfield to major programs like UCLA. Among the letters was a note from Dean Smith, Head Coach, University of North Carolina, the man who would change my life. The man who would save my life. Coach Smith was different from the other coaches who visited. Jim Valvano and his assistant coach, Tom Abatemarco, got into an argument in my living room when Abatemarco corrected Valvano. They were nose to nose. I knew I didn’t want that. I’d had enough yelling in my life. What stood out about Coach Smith, sitting at our kitchen table, was how down-to earth he was. He had won a national championship and an Olympic Gold Medal. He had coached numerous pro players, including my hero James Worthy and the current NBA sensation Michael Jordan. And yet Coach Smith wasn’t over-selling the program. He wasn’t meek or soft-spoken but he also wasn’t over-the-top. He was confident and humble at the same time. A quality education and a better person. That’s all Coach Smith promised."
Amazon.com: Through the Fire: A Memoir of Trauma and Loss, Basketball and Triumph: 9798387791291: Williams, Scott, Guest, Ben: Books
Amazon.com: Through the Fire: A Memoir of Trauma and Loss, Basketball and Triumph: 9798387791291: Williams, Scott, Guest, Ben: Books
www.amazon.com
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Fun facts: Scott Williams is one of only four players to have played with both Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Of those four players, three are Tar Heels: Williams, Brendan Haywood, and Jerry Stackhouse. The one who wasn’t a Tar Heel was Larry Hughes. Of those four players, Williams was the only one to play with Jordan on the Bulls (the others played with Jordan on the Wizards).
donbosco
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Brown fondly reflects on playing for UNC in Smith’s early years
- By PAUL SCHENKEL paul@thepaper.media
- Jun 9, 2025
"The name Dean Smith still ranks among the state’s heavyweights even 10 years after the legendary former University of North Carolina basketball coach’s death.
But the name might not be heralded that way today if not for the impact made by the Tar Heels’ recruiting class of 1965, which redirected the path of UNC basketball, and of which Valdese native Joe Brown was a member.
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[Joe] Brown did more than just learn the game, he went on to excel in it at Valdese High School, where he recalls he could dunk as a 6-foot-1 Tigers freshman playing his first of four varsity seasons.
Then after Brown’s sophomore season in high school under Valdese coach Ed Abee — by which time Brown had grown to about 6-4 — his family made a decision that would change his life.
“Earl Spencer, president of the Valdese Manufacturing Company — we called it the cotton mill — talked my dad into sending me to Coach Smith’s camp in 1963,” Brown said in a recent interview with The Paper.
“And it was a lot of money to go to his camp, for us anyway, but dad sent me down there. So, my first meeting with Coach Smith occurred when I was at his camp that summer. … That was the first time I’d even been to Chapel Hill.”
Smith didn’t let Brown walk away empty-handed from his first trip to UNC.
“The day I left camp, Coach Smith offered me a full scholarship,” Brown said. “That was pretty impressive for a 16-year-old kid. He did it in an unusual way. He called me into his office and gave me a blank grant-in-aid form. And he said we can’t do anything with this right now, but when you’re a senior, I want you to sign this form and come to the University of North Carolina.”
Brown said Smith was in touch with him for the next two years, “and when I graduated, of course, signed the grant-in-aid.”
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Those late 1960s’ Tar Heels didn’t just set Smith’s name on a path toward immortality, they could still be defined as the golden age for the sport all-time even at Carolina, one of the proudest programs in the nation.
From a team aspect, UNC won three consecutive ACC regular-season championships and ACC Tournament championships and appeared in three straight Final Fours during Brown’s three seasons of varsity eligibility spanning the 1966-67 through 1968-69 seasons, a feat that stands alone in college hoops history before or since.
“It was quite a feat. In those days, you had to win the ACC Tournament to go to the NCAA Tournament,” said Brown, who was considered among the top sixth men in the sport by writers of the era. He averaged over 6 points and 4 rebounds in his best statistical season as a UNC junior, playing in all 32 games as UNC fell to Lew Alcindor and UCLA in the NCAA title game.
Brown said he recently found a playing card in the memorabilia room at his house that featured a picture of the team after its third ACC championship with an inscription on the back detailing the historic nature of those Carolina teams’ accomplishment.
“I don’t know that we’ll see it done again,” Brown said. “Maybe we will. Never say never, but it’s been over 55 years.”