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In a touching posthumous act of gratitude, beloved University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith's trust has mailed out $200 checks to each of the nearly 200 lettermen he coached with the message, "Enjoy dinner out compliments of Coach Dean Smith."
The letter sent read, in part: Each player was important and special to Coach Smith and when he prepared his estate plan, Coach wanted to reach out to each of his lettermen. Accordingly, Coach directed that following his passing each letterman be sent a two hundred dollar check with the message 'enjoy a dinner out compliments of Coach Dean Smith.'
According to Sports Illustrated, Smith mentored 184 players while at UNC from 1961 to 1997, most notably, Michael Jordan. Over his tenure as a coach, his team had a record of 879-254. He retired with more victories than any other coach in Division I men's basketball history, led the Tar Heels to two championships in 1982 and 1993, to 13 ACC Tournament titles, 11 Final Fours, an NIT championship and directed the United States Olympic Team to a gold medal at the 1976 Summer Games. (For more on this story, check out The Huffington Post.)
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