( CNN ) Legendary University of North Carolina head basketball coach Dean Smith -- a man who left his mark on young men both on and off the court -- died Saturday evening at the age of 83 , according to the University of North Carolina 's official athletics website . He had battled dementia for years , and according to a family statement provided to UNC , he `` passed away peacefully '' in his Chapel Hill home with his wife and five children by his side . `` It 's a blessing in some ways , '' UNC coach Roy Williams , a longtime protege of Smith 's , said at a news conference Sunday , `` but it is also really hard . '' Williams called Smith `` the perfect picture of what a college basketball coach should have been . '' The 64-year-old Williams , who played for UNC 's junior varsity squad in the 1960s and attended Smith 's practices during college before serving as his assistant for a decade , further said everything he does in administering the school 's basketball program `` is driven by my desire to make Coach Smith proud . '' `` He set the standard for loyalty and concern for every one of his players , not just the games won or lost , '' Williams said in his statement . `` He was the greatest there ever was on the court but far , far better off the court with people . His concern for people will be the legacy I will remember most . '' Smith coached the Tar Heels from 1961 to 1997 , tallying a record of 879-254 in those 36 seasons . The school named its basketball arena for Smith in 1986 , and it 's still popularly referred to as `` the Dean Dome . '' On Sunday , fans left flowers outside the arena in his memory . He also won two national championships , in 1982 and 1993 , and many of his young charges went on to become some of the greatest players in pro basketball history , including Michael Jordan , Billy Cunningham , James Worthy and Vince Carter . Echoing the sentiments of many who played under Smith , Jordan issued a statement , saying , `` Other than my parents , no one had a bigger influence on my life than Coach Smith . He was more than a coach -- he was my mentor , my teacher , my second father . Coach was always there for me whenever I needed him and I loved him for it . In teaching me the game of basketball , he taught me about life . '' Did you have a coach who inspired you ? Share your story on iReport . Smith is often mentioned in the same breath as former Indiana and Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight , Syracuse 's Jim Boeheim and longtime rival Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University , all of whom are considered among the greatest men 's college basketball coaches of all time . Krzyzewski said he was saddened by the news of Smith 's passing and applauded him not only as a `` magnificent teacher and tactician '' but also as a compassionate mentor who believed instilling dignity in his players was as important as honing their basketball skills . `` His greatest gift was his unique ability to teach what it takes to become a good man . That was easy for him to do because he was a great man himself . All of his players benefited greatly from his basketball teaching , but even more from his ability to help mold men of integrity , honor and purpose . Those teachings , specifically , will live forever in those he touched , '' the coach said in a statement . As further testimony to how Smith 's legacy transcended sports , the Twitter feed for Duke 's basketball team also included several messages honoring the man who beat the Blue Devils 59 times . Sports Illustrated named Smith its Sportsman of the Year in 1997 , and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983 . He was also one of the founding members in the inaugural class inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 . `` He designed Carolina 's 'Four Corners ' offense , devised the foul-line huddle , created the 'fatigue signal ' and implemented the 'run-and-jump ' defense , '' according to his Hall of Fame biography . The Emporia , Kansas-born son of two teachers was also a hoopster in his own right and , with his 1952 championship as a Kansas Jayhawk , is one of only two men to win college basketball championships as a coach and player . Knight is the other . A four-time National Coach of the Year , Smith is one of only three coaches to win the National Invitation Tournament , the NCAA Tournament and Olympic Gold . He led the U.S. men 's team to victory in the 1976 Montreal games . In 2013 , Smith joined former President Bill Clinton and entertainer Oprah Winfrey as Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients . President Obama said during the ceremony , `` While Coach Smith could n't join us today due to an illness that he 's facing with extraordinary courage , we also honor his courage in helping to change our country -- he recruited the first black scholarship athlete to North Carolina and helped to integrate a restaurant and a neighborhood in Chapel Hill . That 's the kind of character that he represented on and off the court . '' On Sunday , Obama issued a statement praising Smith 's basketball acumen as well as his leadership skills , saying he `` reared a generation of players who went on to even better things elsewhere , including a young man named Michael Jordan -- and all of us from Chicago are thankful for that . `` But more importantly , Coach Smith showed us something that I 've seen again and again on the court -- that basketball can tell us a lot more about who you are than a jumpshot alone ever could . He graduated more than 96 percent of his players and taught his teams to point to the teammate who passed them the ball after a basket , '' the statement said . Smith broke UNC 's color barrier for scholarship athletes in 1967 with his recruitment of Charles Scott , a would-be two-time All-American who would help skipper the Tar Heels to consecutive NCAA Final Four appearances in 1968 and 1969 . Despite averaging 22 points and seven rebounds a game throughout his college career , Scott was passed over for Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year honors . It 's telling that he once told a Greensboro , North Carolina , newspaper that the snub was the one time in college `` that I felt things were done in a prejudicial manner . `` And what concerned me more was how the media handled it . Nobody ever said anything about it , never challenged what took place . To me , that 's just another form of hypocrisy , '' he told the News & Record . Smith left such an indelible mark on Scott 's life that when Scott spoke at an awards ceremony for Smith many years later , he said , `` When they introduce Coach Smith 's family , why do n't they mention my name ? My father died when I was 12 years old , and Dean Smith is the only father I ever had . '' Recruiting Scott was n't Smith 's first foray into integration . In the 1950s , when Smith was an assistant coach at UNC , a pastor at an inclusive Baptist church asked Smith to dine with him and a black student at a then-popular Chapel Hill restaurant that , like most eateries in the city , had a policy of not serving African-Americans . Smith agreed , and the three were allowed to dine . `` We 're human beings first , coaches and players second , and in the '60s we had to strike an extremely delicate balance between the two , '' Smith once wrote . The longtime Democrat would go on to strike that balance often , speaking out against the Vietnam War , the Iraq War , nuclear proliferation and the death penalty , among other causes . `` America lost not just a coaching legend , but a gentleman and a citizen , '' Obama said in his Sunday statement . Smith 's wife , Linnea , accepted the 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of her husband , who had been fighting dementia for years . Sportswriter John Feinstein , who reportedly abandoned a biography on Smith because of his memory lapses , wrote a column for Smith 's 83rd birthday last year , outlining how Smith refused to engage in self-pity because he 'd led such a great life and knew there were people suffering more than he was . Dementia was a particularly cruel fate to befall a man who `` remembered every name , every game , every play in every game . He also remembered every call that went against him and anything written or said about one of his players or friends that he thought was a slight -- real or perceived . He never asked me how my kids were . He asked how Danny and Brigid were , '' wrote Feinstein , who says he first noticed Smith 's flagging memory in 2005 . Even Krzyzewski , his longtime rival -- and some might say archrival , given the fierce history of competition between UNC and Duke -- concurred . `` You 're talking about the person who had the sharpest mind and the most remarkable memory of anyone I 've ever met . It 's just not fair , '' Feinstein quoted Krzyzewski as saying . People we 've lost in 2015 .
Dean Martin was n't just a coach , ` ` but a gentleman and a gentleman , '' President says . ` ` In teaching me the game of basketball , he taught me about life , '' Michael Jordan says . With a record of 189 - 144 , he is considered one of the best coaches of all time .