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The Daily Tar Heel

Reflecting on the Dean E. Smith Center's history and its uncertain future

SmithCenter2.jpg
Photo Courtesy of UNC Athletics.

Time stood still. 

The date was Jan. 18, 1986. The occasion could not have been bigger, nor could it have been scripted any better. Undefeated, top-ranked North Carolina was about to square off against undefeated, third-ranked Duke. 

It was the first game in the brand-new Dean E. Smith Center.

The bright afternoon light poured in through the translucent roof. A crowd of 21,444 packed the arena. Their excitement and noise filled the air.

Freddie Kiger, who was on official stats for the broadcast crew, said the building resembled a palace.

“It was a time when all who were there thought we’d be in a building that would last forever,” Kiger said.

The official carried the basketball to center court. He tossed it up between Duke’s Danny Ferry and UNC’s Brad Daugherty.

SmithCenter1.jpg
Photo Courtesy of UNC Athletics.

The moment marked the beginning of the Smith Center’s now-nearly-40-year history. The original hardwood floor with a Carolina Blue outline of the state, now named after Roy Williams, is still at its heart. The building has become a cathedral of the sport. Players, coaches and classic games have created an enduring legacy. Banners and jerseys hang from the rafters. Four national championship teams have played there. 

But with recent discussions of a major renovation or even building a new arena, the timelessness felt on that opening day might reach an end date. 

Origin

UNC outgrew Carmichael Arena, the building that had replaced Woollen Gymnasium in 1965, where the Tar Heels played for more than 20 years.

“Even in its best days, it was small,” said former UNC student Chris Newbury, who attended games at Carmichael and the first at the Smith Center. "It was cramped. It was hard to get around."

Interest in building a new arena began as the program’s profile rose in the ‘70s. Support became strong when John Swofford was promoted to athletic director in 1980. Hargrove “Skipper” Bowles was tasked with leading the fundraising effort. Without public funding, some doubted enough money would be raised. The University commissioned a feasibility study that said the campaign could only be successful if there were major individual gifts of more than $5 million. 

The initial goal was $30 million. Bowles made speeches across the state to privately raise at least $35 million. 

Donations ranged from $1 to $1 million. The sole million-dollar gift came from Walter R. Davis, for whom Davis Library is named. 

Ground was broken for the new arena on April 17, 1982. More than 20,000 cubic yards of rock and about 150,000 cubic feet of dirt were removed from the site, once a wooded ravine near Mason Farm Road. The building took nearly four years to build. It stands 340-feet wide, 380-feet long and 140-feet high.

It needed a name. 

Blucher Ehringhaus, the University’s assistant director of development assigned to the project, was at The Carolina Inn for a meeting with Bowles and other committee members during construction. They discussed naming the building after then-current head coach, Dean Smith.

“He was dead set against it,” Ehringhaus said. “First, he said, ‘You only name buildings after people who are dead, and I’m not planning on dying anytime soon.’ And second, ‘I think it’s a terrible idea to name it after me. I think all this money ought to go to medical research.’ He said that dozens of times.” 

SmithCtr-groundbreak.jpg
Photo Courtesy of UNC Athletics.

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Everyone chuckled after Smith left the room.

“And somebody, I think it was probably Skipper, said, ‘Well that’s the one time I won’t listen to him,’” Ehringhaus said.

The night before the new arena was set to open following construction delays, the University held a black-tie dinner in the new building to honor the Arts and Sciences Foundation. Chancellor Christopher Fordham announced the arena would be named for Smith.

The first game against Duke delivered an instant classic the next day.

Because the official name announcement came late, the cover of the program read: "Opening Game Student Activities Center."

Duke’s Mark Alarie scored the first basket in the Smith Center. UNC’s first points were scored by Warren Martin on an assist from Kenny Smith.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski received a technical for protesting a call before the Tar Heels went on a 12-0 run. UNC led, 80-69, with just over five minutes to play. The Blue Devils rallied late, but North Carolina held on for a 95-92 victory. 

It was UNC’s 18th straight win to begin the season. Eleven future NBA players appeared in the game.

“There was an incredible bolt of lightning and electricity that was maintained for the entire event,” Kiger said. “The game [was] frenetic, exciting, back-and-forth. It was everything that you could ever want to imagine for the first game in the Smith Center.”

1993

UNC finally christened the Smith Center with its first national championship banner born out of the colossal facilities in 1993. 

“Of course [coach Smith] wanted to win, but he would say, ‘Getting there is a lot about how hard you worked, how much preparation you made, the sacrifice that everybody made,’” then-assistant coach Dave Hanners said. “‘The last game, the championship game, there was some luck involved in that, whether you won or lost, but you know the 35 games that came before that, that’s not luck.’”

Three months before hoisting the trophy, in January 1993, Florida State rolled into town. 

The year before, the Seminoles conquered North Carolina in their first-ever ACC game. Former Florida State guard Sam Cassell chided the Smith Center faithful, coining the infamous “cheese and wine crowd” dig, calling the fans laidback and casual.

And for the first 30 minutes of the nationally televised, sold-out ‘93 game, it seemed that they might roll over the Tar Heels again. With 9:30 remaining, UNC was down 20. 

But the crowd, perhaps with Cassell’s comment in mind, stood and cheered. One fan waved a banner that read, “HEY SAM! HI ESPN! NO WIN(e & cheese) TONIGHT!!”

Little by little — a stop here, a 3-pointer there — The Tar Heels worked themselves back into the game. With just under two minutes to go, Eric Montross hit a shot to cut Florida State’s lead to one. 

The Seminoles inbounded the ball. Charlie Ward picked up his dribble near half-court and launched an arcing pass to an open Bob Sura. As the ball neared Sura’s outstretched arms, UNC’s George Lynch raced up the court, plucking the ball out of the air and slamming home a two-handed dunk to give North Carolina the lead.

Florida State didn’t score again. The fans stormed the court after the final buzzer. 

The Smith Center crowd, along with the team, completed the comeback.  

“The fans were just as eager to beat Florida State probably because Sam Cassell called our fans cheese and wine,” Lynch said. “So for us to be able to get back at him, that was a shining moment.” 

The Tar Heels only lost four games that season. They went the distance in April.

But Hanners, Ford, Lynch, the rest of the '93 Tar Heels and everyone in the stands will never forget that game against the Seminoles in the Smith Center.

“When George dunked that ball to take the lead," then-assistant coach Phil Ford said.  "Boy, the top flew off that building that day." 

Legacy

The slogan for Bowles' campaign was “Pride Will Build It.” Those words were printed on Carolina Blue bumper stickers with a design of the new arena and handed out across the state.

Brothers from Camden, S.C., Andrew and Eddie Deese, donated their allowances in early March 1982. At age 12, Eddie was three years older than Andrew. They both wrote letters to the University.

In his letter, Eddie wrote, “The reason I’m contributing to the building of a new auditorium for Carolina to play in is because I’ve been brought up on the Tar Heels. They’ve always been a part of my life.”

“That’s why it’s always been a really popular place among the alumni because so many people contributed to it,” current men’s basketball sports information director Steve Kirschner said. “So many people have an investment in it, both financially as well as emotionally.”

Ehringhaus said the outpouring of support to build it was emblematic of the pride people had in the University. He believes the success of UNC men’s basketball in the Smith Center has led to support in other areas, including the graduate and professional schools and the undergraduate endowment.

Newbury’s favorite memory as a fan came years after he was in the stands for the first game. In 1997, he attended the Duke game with a friend. They walked out to their seats from the visiting tunnel. Newbury looked up and saw the banners. He said he felt what he imagines the opponent feels like when they run onto the floor. 

“And it just struck me how intimidating and inspiring all at once that has to be,” Newbury said

In 2010, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of North Carolina basketball, an alumni game was played at the Smith Center. Former players from as far back as the 1940s came.

That Friday night after the game, all the alumni lined up on the court. Walter Davis stood where he hit the game-winning shot against Duke in 1974. They passed a ball down the court, ending with a layup from Tyler Hansbrough.

“[Hansbrough] said it was the most nervous he’s ever been on a basketball court,” Kirschner said. “Trying to make that layup, in a pair of jeans at the end of this long line of great former players.”

The Tar Heels played N.C. State the next day. All the alumni present formed a rectangle around the middle of the court at halftime. 

The public address announcer introduced coach Smith. He walked to the center of the building bearing his name. The former players walked toward him and engulfed him in a group hug.

Future

In August 2024, the University released a physical master plan report, including six possibilities for renovating or replacing the Smith Center. 

“It’s a building that’s 40 years old, and it’s had some wear and tear on it,” Kirschner said. “People like newer things."

The Smith Center doesn't have the same amenities as newer arenas with luxury seating, larger concourses and more bathrooms.

It is still possible, according to the report, that the building will be renovated or replaced and remain in the same spot.

There are also four suggested locations for a new arena. Two are on campus next door in the Skipper Bowles Parking Lot and the nearby Odum Village off Mason Farm Road. The others are at the Friday Center and Carolina North, both around two miles from main campus. 

While the future is uncertain, Ford and Hanners share one wish: whatever or wherever becomes the future home of the men’s basketball team has to bear the name Dean E. Smith. 

Hanners also hopes that the championship photos that line the concourse are preserved, so that everyone who enters the arena will know what the program has accomplished, just like Smith intended

“I just have to hope,” Kiger said. “I would even go as far as to use the word pray — that regardless of what group that’s trying to put together a plan, that at the very heart of what drives them, what motivates them, what pushes their plan, is that they still want to honor the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. To honor its traditions. To honor its history.”

Caroline Wills contributed reporting.

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