Dean Edwards Smith was born in Emporia, KS in 1931. He attended Topeka High School and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1953. Smith began his basketball coaching career as an assistant coach at Kansas in 1953, moved briefly to Air Force, and then began at UNC in 1958. In 1961, he took over as head coach of UNC and over 36 years established an unparalleled record (879-254) as the winningest coach in college basketball history. He has won numerous coaching awards, including 8 ACC Coach of the Year titles. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983.