Short takes on Dean Smith - ESPN (blog)
Since Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith's passing on Saturday, many of his former players and staffers at North Carolina have shared their countless experiences that have not all found their way to print. He had one weakness, though, and Chris Leevy Johnson, a team manager from 1992-96, was often asked to go by Merritt’s Store and Grill in Chapel Hill to deliver it. Smith would hand over the keys to his dealer-issued 740 series BMW to Johnson, who... "They had this superhuge BLT sandwich that he liked," said Johnson, who is now the team chaplain for South Carolina’s men’s basketball team. Johnson also recalled a final time when Smith asked him to drive his car. Former Georgetown coach John Thompson, a close friend of Smith’s, was also in attendance and needed a ride to the airport. "As soon as it was over, Coach asked me to go get his car and drive it down in the tunnel because he had to take John Thompson back to the airport," Johnson said. "He was so elated that John Thompson would fly all the way down just for his press conference, it meant so much to him that he drove [Thompson] himself and I just rode with him. Basketball-related duties consumed most of his time, so he did as many former Tar Heels had the tendency to do when they had. Source: espn.go.com
