THE DEAN OF COACHES

Dean Smith, a marvelous college basketball coach at North Carolina and an even finer man, died Saturday night at the age of 83. Tributes poured forth on Sunday for the visionary and leader who desegregated his sport at UNC and won two NCAA championships while coaching the likes of Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Jerry Stackhouse and Billy Cunningham.

“Other than my parents, no one had a bigger influence on my life than Coach Smith,” Jordan said in a statement. “He was more than a coach — he was my mentor, my teacher, my second father.”

Smith coached the Tar Heels from 1961-1997, winning the NCAA tournament in 1982 and 1993. He had only one losing season – his first (8-9). His record was 879-254, a winning percentage of .776. He was college basketball’s winningest coach when he retired, though that mark has since been surpassed. North Carolina was ACC champion 17 times in his 27 seasons and went to 11 Final Fours.

MORE COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The top four teams in the AP poll all won. No. 1 Kentucky nipped Florida 68-61, No. 2 Gonzaga beat San Francisco 81-70, No. 3 Virginia outlasted No. 9 Louisville 52-47 and No. 4 Duke blasted No. 10 Notre Dame 90-60. … There’s a marquee matchup in women’s basketball on Monday night, with No. 1 South Carolina (22-0) traveling to play No. 2 Connecticut (22-1).

GOLF

 
Jason Day won a four-way playoff on Sunday at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego with a par on the second extra hole at Torrey Pines.

NBA

 
Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan responded to a critical New York Knicks fan with an email of incredible venom. An MSG spokesman confirmed that the email, published Sunday on Deadspin.com, was written by Dolan.

Dolan called the fan, who claimed to be a season ticket holder since 1952, a “hateful mess” and a “negative force” to anyone with whom he comes into contact. He told the fan to instead root for the Brooklyn Nets.

“You most likely have made your family miserable. Alcoholic maybe,” Dolan wrote. “I just celebrated my 21- year anniversary of sobriety. You should try it. Maybe it will help you become a person that folks would like to have around.”
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .