Dean Smith Honored by Sports World After Passing Away at Age 83

During his 83 years, Dean Smith touched countless lives. He was a bastion of excellence on the basketball court, a mentor to many of basketball's all-time great players and coaches and a pioneer who helped integrate African-Americans at North Carolina during the height of racial tensions in the 1960s.   

With Smith passing away Saturday night, it's only right that the sports world took time to pay tribute to one of the legendary figures both on and off the bench. The Smith family announced Sunday morning that the legendary coach died the night before in the comfort of his own home. 

"Coach Dean Smith passed away peacefully the evening of February 7 at his home in Chapel Hill, and surrounded by his wife and five children," the family said in a statement issued by North Carolina. "We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy as arrangements are made available to the public. Thank you."

During his time in Chapel Hill, Smith won two national championships, appeared in 11 Final Fours and claimed 17 regular-season conference titles. He left the sport in 1997 as Division I's all-time leader in wins. Having left an indelible imprint on historically great players like Michael Jordan and coaches like Roy Williams, Smith studied under Kansas' legendary Phog Allen and went on to create an everlasting legacy every bit as great as his teacher's.

Jordan, who played under Smith from 1981 to 1984, was one of many to release a statement on Smith's death, via Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports:

SportsCenter's Twitter feed provided a touching photo of Smith and Jordan together in 2007:

James Worthy also spoke on his coach's passing via his Twitter account:

President Obama also released a statement on Smith, via Zeke Miller of Time:

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, a longtime rival and friend of Smith's, expressed his condolences, per Laura Keeley of The Charlotte Observer:

Phil Jackson also commented on Smith's impact on his players, via his Twitter account:

Donnie Walsh, one of Smith's former players at North Carolina and a current consultant for the Indiana Pacers, released a statement through the team on Smith's passing:

"

The announcement of the passing of Dean is a sad time for all the members of the North Carolina basketball and University family. He was a wonderful man and mentor and he was one of the largest influences in my life. The basketball world in general will mourn his passing and celebrate the many innovations he brought to the game but his legacy to all of us was as a decent and caring gentleman. Our coach and mentor.

"

One of the friendliest and open men in an ultra-competitive environment, Smith's wisdom was sometimes even passed on to coaches who didn't serve under him. A number of them offered their support on Twitter:

Gregg Popovich also commented on his interactions with Smith, via Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News:

Smith's impact was also felt as much off the court as on. Taking over at North Carolina in 1961, he inherited a program yet to include African-Americans. Smith not long after spearheaded the movement across the ACC—a conference with minimal racial integration—to offer black players scholarships. In 2013, President Barack Obama gave Smith the Presidential Medal of Freedom in part because of those efforts. 

Seth Davis of CBS Sports posted on Smith's chronicles as a civil rights leader:

ESPN's Bomani Jones sent along a passage that highlighted more of Smith's work with integration:

Scott Tobias of The Dissolve noted Smith's work preceded the passing of civil-rights legislation:

Smith was ahead of his time in a number of other ways as well. Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey pointed out Smith was at the forefront of the analytics movement, long before it was anything close to a "movement":

As for players, Smith coached some of the biggest names in the sport. Jordan, James Worthy, Vince Carter and countless others owe some of their NBA legacies to Smith's tutelage. Tom Ziller of SB Nation astutely reminds us that Smith's legacy lives on in Carter, who is still holding strong with the Memphis Grizzlies:

"

There's one Dean Smith-coached player left in the NBA, Vince Carter.

— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) February 8, 2015"

A number of Carolina players of past and present commented on Smith's passing:

It's evident, as the outpouring of support continues, that Smith was able to touch everyone he encountered in some way.

That, perhaps more than anything, is his legacy.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter