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The late North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith said thank you to all of his former players one last time in his will. About 180 former Tar Heels will get $200 checks from the accountant who administers his trust. The checks contain the notation "Dinner out."

Dean Smith, the coaching innovator who won two national championships at North Carolina, an Olympic gold medal in 1976 and induction into basketball's Hall of Fame more than a decade before he left the bench, has died. He was 83. The retired coach died "peacefully" at his North Carolina home Saturday night, the school said in a statement Sunday from Smith's family. He was with his wife and five children. Smith had health issues in recent years, with the family saying in 2010 he had a condition that was causing him to lose memory. He had kept a lower profile...

Dean Smith, who coached North Carolina to two men's basketball national titles, died Saturday night at the age of 83. North Carolina announced Smith's death Sunday morning. "Coach Dean Smith passed away peacefully the evening of February 7 at his home in Chapel Hill, and surrounded by his wife and five children," Smith's family said in a statement. "We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy as arrangements are made available to the public. Thank you."

High court wannabe makes a habit of bad judgmentIf you're from North Carolina and you have good sense, you don't want to run afoul of Dean Smith. If you're a Tar Heel basketball fan, you love him. If you're not, but appreciate accomplishment and integrity, you respect him. And if you're a smart politician, the last thing you want is to get on the bad side of him.

Dean Smith Asks Candidate To Remove Endorsement From Web SitePOSTED: 10:35 pm EDT May 22, 2006 UPDATED: 10:35 pm EDT May 22, 2006 RALEIGH, N.C. -- Despite a message posted on her campaign Web site, former North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith said Monday he has not endorsed lawyer Rachel Lea Hunter for the state Supreme Court. "I never knew her in my life," Smith said. "I assume I'll vote, but I don't know who I'll vote for."

Krzyzewski Is Burned for Showing a Political Bent By SELENA ROBERTS It wasn't as if the coach whose reputation could pass a white-glove test threw a campus keg party, but Mike Krzyzewski's campaign bash on Duke grounds left him scolded just the same. It wasn't as if the coach who rinses Cascade clean raised money to buy off recruits, but his fund-raiser for the Republican Elizabeth Dole was turned into an ethical violation in the Tar Heel State. It wasn't as if the coach with the nasally voice of a man in need of Nyquil shouted "Blue Devils for Dole!"...