A Coach's Life: My Forty Years in College Basketball

Largely conforming to the standard sports autobiography, former University of North Carolina basketball coach Smith recalls his career and the way it dovetailed with the evolution of college basketball over the second half of this century into a big business and media zoo. The writing is talky and easygoing, punctuated by sly humor: ""I liked the '60s, but I liked them a lot better after we won a few ball games."" Of meeting Michael Jordan, who played for him at UNC, Smith casually notes: ""I know I'm supposed to say he was surrounded by a golden light, but the truth is, he wasn't."" The son of schoolteachers, Smith writes sincerely about teaching his young, talented players the ""issues"" involved in basketball and in life, especially race. In a chapter called ""I may Be Wrong But!"" Smith reveals some of the personal and political beliefs he so tightly guarded during his career. He articulates his faith in God and his political disagreements with the Christian Coalition (relevant because Smith was long the most popular man in a state that elects Jesse Helms to the Senate) and his discomfort with athletes who appear to believe that God cares who wins a basketball game. Although Smith indulges in some stock homilies and bromides about ""life fundamentals,"" he come off as man with compassion, modesty and honesty, as well as competitive drive. (Nov.)