Dean and Roy: two short, simple names that will never be separated.
Both men are tied to the four-man link that shaped the sport. Roy was taken under the wing of Dean, who was coached by Kansas legend Phog Allen, himself a pupil of the game's inventor, Dr. James Naismith.
In terms of basketball achievements, the connection is obvious. Dean won 879 games; Roy won 903. Dean went to 11 Final Fours; Roy went to nine. And as fans in Chapel Hill will most remember, Dean won two national titles; Roy won three.
Their first days as the leading figure of the Tar Heels also draw parallels. Dean inherited a program in turmoil and built it into a powerhouse. A half-century later, Roy took that dying power that went 8-20 in 2002 and cut down the nets in just three years’ time.
And now, after the many highs and few lows of their respective careers, it is only fitting that both have similar shocking endings. Dean called it quits just weeks before his team’s Final Four defense in 1997, and Roy, after weeks of denial, has stepped away on a seemingly random Thursday morning.
If you were to ask Roy what he thought of these attachments, you’d surely get some mixed emotions.
On one hand, he’d flash his trademark grin, knowing that his Hall of Fame legacy will forever be tied to the man that first helped him land an assistant coaching gig for his home state’s most prestigious team.
On the other, his humble personality would likely prevent him from thinking he was ever a fraction of the coach Dean was.
It didn’t matter that he finally eclipsed his mentor in both national championships and total wins. At the end of the day, he still remembers his days as a student sitting in the bleachers of Carmichael Arena, taking notes and hoping to soak up as much knowledge as possible from the Dean of basketball.
