Dean Edwards Smith was born on 28 February 1931, in Emporia, Kansas, USA. He was a basketball head coach, best known for coaching the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 36 years, and earning coaching legend status from the Basketball Hall of Fame. He’s also the reason the university gave an athletic scholarship to the first African-American basketball player. His efforts helped raise his net worth to a high point prior to his passing.
How rich was Dean Smith? As of early-2016, sources estimate a net worth that was at $5 million, mostly earned through a successful career as a coach. Aside from basketball, he was very active in charity and liberal politics. He was also an inspiration for many athletes to graduate, and all of these efforts helped in raising his wealth.
Dean Smith Net Worth $5 Million
Dean was born into a family with both parents working as school teachers, and his father coached the Emporia High Spartans basketball team towards a 1934 Kansas State title. The team was well known for having the first African-American player in a Kansas tournament. He attended Topeka High School where he played basketball, football and baseball. After matriculating, he attended the University of Kansas on an academic scholarship, studying mathematics and playing all three sports he had played in school. His basketball team won the national championship in 1952, and reached the NCAA finals the following year. After graduating from the university, Dean tried his hand at being an assistant coach for a year.
Smith then went to Germany, serving in the United States Air Force, and helped the Air Force academy’s golf and baseball teams as a coach. When he left the USAF, he became an assistant coach for the University of North Carolina, and served as such for three years. He then became head coach, but during his first year the university was plagued with a school scandal that led to only 17 games in the season and a losing record. Eventually, they bounced back and won multiple games and the school was known to never finish worse than third place in the championships. In the late 1960s, Smith’s team would go on and win tournaments as well as consistently appear in Final Fours. Dean earned his first national championship during 1981, with future NBA players James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Michael Jordan. The game itself was won by a shot made by Michael Jordan during the final seconds of the game. Smith would earn a second championship during 1992 in which they were the top seed entering the tournament, and won the title thanks to an unforced error caused by Chris Webber on the opposing team.
In 1997 Smith would retire, citing that he no longer had the same enthusiasm he used to have for coaching. His family would later state that Dean had been suffering from a neurological condition which affected his memory.
For his personal life, it is known that he was married to Ann Cleavinger in 1954, just before he was deployed to the Air Force. They have three children and would later divorce in 1973. He then went on and married Linnea Weblemoe during 1976, and they have two daughters. At the age of 83, Smith died surrounded by his family. It was reported that in his will he had left a $200 check to each of his former lettermen and a statement that they should enjoy a dinner compliments of their coach.
