{"id":153109,"date":"2025-07-07T09:51:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T09:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/153109\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T09:51:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T09:51:20","slug":"its-a-grief-project-author-ron-smith-details-unc-basketball-history-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/153109\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s a Grief Project\u2019: Author Ron Smith Details UNC Basketball History Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When Ron Smith walked into UNC\u2019s Wilson Library, he wasn\u2019t looking for a passion project. He was looking for a distraction.<\/p>\n

It was 2005, and Smith\u2019s wife was undergoing treatment for cancer at Duke Hospital, and he needed an escape among the Wilson stacks. The solution soon presented itself: studying the history of Carolina basketball.<\/p>\n

Smith then found himself poring over old box scores detailing historical matchups with Duke and other classic rivals. As a longtime Tar Heel fan and UNC alumnus, Smith was hooked.<\/p>\n

Some of the primary sources dated back to the very beginning of UNC\u2019s men\u2019s basketball program in 1911. But Smith began to notice discrepancies between the reporting of the local newspapers of the time and what was presented in UNC\u2019s basketball record book. He called Steve Kirschner, who compiles the book every year, with his concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking at [the UNC basketball record book], the scores in the back of the blue books, and then the lettermen,\u201d Smith told Chapelboro. \u201cAnd I just said, \u2018I don\u2019t mean to sound presumptuous, like I know everything. But I\u2019m finding guys who were listed as lettermen in 1911 or 1912 who I can\u2019t find in any box score.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirschner gave Smith the green light to continue sending corrections, and the pair\u2019s professional relationship continues to this day. It also was another step toward what would become a massive project for Smith: a multi-volume history of Carolina basketball, stretching even further back than the program\u2019s first season more than a century ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was putting the pieces together, and it led me back to the very beginning in 1892, when James Naismith invented the game,\u201d Smith remembered.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, one of Naismith\u2019s students, Frank Mahan, bestowed the name \u201cBasket Ball\u201d (it was originally written as two words) onto Naismith\u2019s new game. Mahan then took the game on to his next job, as director of a YMCA in Charlotte. A few of Mahan\u2019s younger students fell in love with the game, and started the basketball program at UNC once they arrived in Chapel Hill as students a few years later.<\/p>\n

As for Smith\u2019s love of the Tar Heels, that traces back to a February night in 1966, when a 10-year-old Ron went with his father to a Carolina basketball game. The Smith family went to many games together, but this one was special. Not only had Smith\u2019s dad brought his camera with color film, but young Ron got to meet one of his heroes: head coach Dean Smith. Ron\u2019s dad captured the moment on his camera.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad said, \u2018Why don\u2019t we send Coach Smith a copy of the photo?\u2019\u201d Ron said. \u201cSo we did. And he sent me a thank you note, and then a signed team picture. And then every time I saw him after that, he knew my name.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This picture, taken by Ron Smith\u2019s father, shows 10-year-old Ron meeting head coach Dean Smith at the North-South Doubleheader in Ron\u2019s hometown of Charlotte in February 1966. (Image via Ron Smith)<\/p>\n

Ever since that fateful night, Smith has closely followed the Tar Heels. But the idea for his history project didn\u2019t take root until nearly four decades later, when he was browsing in a Barnes & Noble bookstore with his wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came across a book called \u2018Rolling With the Stones\u2019 by Bill Wyman, the bass player,\u201d remembered Smith. \u201cAnd it was full of memorabilia: ticket stubs, photos, program covers, posters. And I showed it to her and I purchased it. I said, \u2018This is the coolest book I\u2019ve ever seen. I wish somebody would do something like this for Carolina basketball.\u2019 And she said, \u2018Why don\u2019t you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s wife died in 2006 after battling cancer for four years. But armed with her inspiration, and the wealth of knowledge he had gained across decades of fandom, Smith forged ahead with his book project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have people say, when I would show them what I\u2019m doing, \u2018Gosh, you have more time on your hands than you know what to do with.\u2019\u201d said Smith. \u201cI said, \u2018Well, actually it\u2019s a grief project.\u2019 It got me going after she passed, to dive into this kind of minutiae.\u201d<\/p>\n

With assists from college connections such as former player Dave Hanners, Smith has published the first two volumes of his collection, simply titled, \u201cThe Tar Heels.\u201d The first covers a 70-year period from the game\u2019s origins in 1891 to 1961, the season before Dean Smith\u2019s hiring as head coach. The second volume covers the early years of Smith\u2019s tenure, from 1961 to 1969. The plan is for each subsequent volume to cover a decade of history, with the next edition covering the 1970s set to be published this winter.<\/p>\n

Smith says he plans for future volumes to cover seasons all the way into the present day, though he acknowledged his health may require him to bring in more collaborators as the years wear on.<\/p>\n

The photography in the books is a particular point of pride for Smith; many photos included in the books had never been published. The cover photo for each volume is from a different national championship game: Volume 1 features the victorious 1957 national champions, while Volume 2 shows Charlie Scott in action against UCLA in 1968. Smith already has cover images in mind for future volumes, including the 2020s.<\/p>\n

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Author Ron Smith (right) with former UNC basketball star Jim Delany. (Image via Ron Smith)<\/p>\n

But perhaps the best picture of the bunch is in the introduction to Volume 1. It shows a young Dean Smith, looking up at a fan: 10-year-old Ron. It\u2019s the photo Ron\u2019s father took on color film that night in February 1966. Young Ron couldn\u2019t have known it then, but it was the first step on a decades-long journey. Now, through his passion and his grief, Ron Smith is sharing that journey with his readers.<\/p>\n

To learn more about Smith\u2019s books or to purchase copies, visit thetarheelbook.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Featured image via Ron Smith<\/p>\n

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