When former North Carolina basketball player Dante Calabria checked his mailbox earlier this week, he discovered a surprising letter inside.
It included a $200 check with the note "enjoy a dinner out compliments of Coach Dean Smith."
Every player Dean Smith coached during 36 years at North Carolina will receive the same gift, according to a picture of the letter Calabria tweeted Thursday. Smith died Feb. 7 at age 83.
The gesture from Smith adds to his reputation as the ultimate player's coach. He was beloved among his former players for always making time to give them fatherly advice or encouragement no matter how many years removed from their playing days they were.
Lee Dedmon, a center for the Tar Heels from 1967-71, told Yahoo Sports last month that Smith negotiated his first pro contract for him and later advised him on how to act when he learned he was to be cut. Dedmon was a merely decent player at North Carolina and a margin pro, yet he could count on at least one hand-written letter from Smith every year before the coach was beset by dementia.
"You knew that you could dial that office number and if you didn't get him that second, it would be just a few minutes and you could talk to him," Dedmon said. "That really helped me and helped a lot of players, I'm sure. Just to know that person was there. Just to know you had another father figure who would listen to what you were saying and give you an honest assessment."
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/1FXkkax
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