Smith shared his stars and his aloha while on islands

Reporters wanted to talk about his No. 1-ranked North Carolina basketball team, but coach Dean Smith was still going on about the night’s exuberant crowd.

He was asked about UNC’s Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace and the 88-76 victory over Hawaii, but Smith preferred to marvel about the newly opened arena they had just played in, which would become known as the Stan Sheriff Center.

It was Dec. 22, 1994 — the fifth men’s basketball game and the sport’s first sellout in the then-Special Events Arena — and you would have thought the 10,031 on hand had done the legendary coach a favor by coming instead of vice versa.

And he did, in fact, thank several around courtside for attending.

Smith, who died Saturday at age 83, gave us some of the best glimpses of big-time college basketball ever seen in Hawaii. More, perhaps, than any Hall of Fame coach who has come through here.

Over his 36 seasons at UNC, Smith’s teams played in Klum Gym, the Blaisdell Arena, the Sheriff Center and the Lahaina Civic, going 18-3. They went 11-1 in winning three Rainbow Classics in the days when it was the premier eight-team holiday event in the country.

Even the lone loss — a one-point setback to Michigan’s "Fab Five" in 1992 –was notable in that North Carolina came back and avenged it in the National Championship final three months later.

The only two No. 1-ranked teams UH has ever played (1986 and ’94) were both his.

Smith’s teams gave us a glimpse of George Karl, Mitch Kupchak, Phil Ford, Sam Perkins, Eric Montross and an up-and-coming Michael Jordan.

Jordan made the 1982 all-tournament team but was eclipsed by Oklahoma’s Wayman Tisdale, who scored 102 points in three games.

Yet for all his prestige, Smith was down-to-earth and genuinely pleased to meet you, often in contrast to other marquee coaches who passed through. Pineapple-tossing Bob Knight comes to mind.

In Chapel Hill, UNC officials and staff would insulate Smith, but in Hawaii he seemed to enjoy talking to fans, media and players as he made his way through the Blaisdell Arena and other venues.

After the 1994 victory over Hawaii he made a point of offering some encouragement to UH center Tony Maroney.

Following his Tar Heels’ 92-77 victory over UH in Chapel Hill in 1993, Smith sung the praises of guard Jarinn Akana, who had scored 26 points, 18 of them on six-of-eight 3-point shooting.

In his 1994 visit Smith seemed almost as happy with the record turnout as his host, Riley Wallace. After all, Smith had seen a meager 688 at Klum in earlier years. He said he hoped the new arena could be the start of something big for UH and seemed proud to have been part of it.

Along with bringing top level basketball to the state, Smith has a more curious local legacy preserved in official UH policy. Thanks to that 1994 North Carolina visit, which inspired ticket lines snaking around the arena and saw many leaving empty-handed after waiting for hours, UH came to limit the number of tickets to premium events to 10 per person.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.