--- description: For a dinner out to remember title: North Carolina Coach Sends $200 Check to All of His Former Players in His Will image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51f3a9984e38cca5/698785873c16393b45452748/dean-smith-basketball.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [College Basketball](/tag/college-basketball/) ## College Basketball Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # North Carolina Coach Sends $200 Check to All of His Former Players in His Will by [Mike Fiammetta / Sports Illustrated](/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Mike Fiammetta / Sports Illustrated Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 26, 2015 6:31 PM CUT  North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith during a news conference where he announced his retirement, in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Oct. 9, 1997. North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith during a news conference where he announced his retirement, in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Oct. 9, 1997.Bob Jordan—AP by [Mike Fiammetta / Sports Illustrated](/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Mike Fiammetta / Sports Illustrated Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 26, 2015 6:31 PM CUT Late North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith, who died last month, willed his trust to send $200 to each player who lettered under him, Tim Breedlove, who wrote the letter, confirmed to SI.com_._ Smith died at 83 on Feb. 7 at his North Carolina home. He coached for 36 years at UNC, winning 879 games and two NCAA championships. In the letter Smith’s former players received from Miller McNeish & Breedlove, PA, it was revealed that Smith requested each of his former players be sent a $200 check with the message, “enjoy a dinner out compliments of Coach Dean Smith.” The enclosed checks also included the notation, “Dinner out.” By _SI_‘s count, Smith coached 184 players from 1961 to 1997. (H/t [@ChestPassDemps](https://twitter.com/ChestPassDemps/status/581137411469647873/photo/1 "undefined")) _This_ [_article_](http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2015/03/26/dean-smith-will-200-dollars-north-carolina-players "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_SI.com_](http://www.si.com "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3760399/coach-smith-will/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3760399/coach-smith-will/"},"headline":"North Carolina Coach Sends $200 Check to All of His Former Players in His Will","datePublished":"2015-03-26T18:31:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:28:59.146Z","description":"For a dinner out to remember","url":"https://time.com/3760399/coach-smith-will/","keywords":["College Basketball"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51f3a9984e38cca5/698785873c16393b45452748/dean-smith-basketball.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mike Fiammetta / Sports Illustrated"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51f3a9984e38cca5/698785873c16393b45452748/dean-smith-basketball.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith during a news conference where he announced his retirement, in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Oct. 9, 1997.","caption":"North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith during a news conference where he announced his retirement, in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Oct. 9, 1997.","creditText":"Bob Jordan—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/college-basketball/","name":"College Basketball"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3760399/coach-smith-will/","name":"North Carolina Coach Sends $200 Check to All of His Former Players in His Will"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Georgetown vs. Princeton: The Game That Saved March Madness","description":"No. 16 seed Princeton's near-upset of No. 1 seed Georgetown in a 1989 first-round game made sure Cinderella would always get invited to the ball.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/z2mnNZ9m/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-03-19T23:01:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/z2mnNZ9m.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3760399/coach-smith-will/","duration":"PT9M34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3760399/coach-smith-will/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```