Collection of Dean Smith Tributes

To no one's surprise, the coverage of Dean Smith's passing has brought out a litany of great and well written articles about the Tar Heel legend. Here is just a sampling.

Adam Lucas writes the Dean Smith stories are incredible and yes true.

The News and Observer has a special section on Dean Smith(subscription required)

Inside Carolina with reflections from former players as well as other individuals and Thad Williamson remembers how Dean Smith handled big and small things well.

Bret Strelow at the Fayetteville Observer writes about Smith's being more than a coach while Stephen Schramm delves into Smith's impact in Chapel Hill.

Over at ESPN.com Jay Bilas, who played against Smith's teams, remembers him as a "true gentleman" Also Tommy Tomlinson, Dick Vitale, Ian O'Connor and Dana O'Neil.

At SI.com Seth Davis shares about his final meeting with Dean Smith in 2009 and Alexander Wolff touches on Smith's life.

Smith's Grantland obituary by Charles P. Pierce is a must read.

CBS Sports' Gary Parrish says the cliche of "being a better coach than man" can be genuinely applied to Dean Smith.

The Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy notes Dean Smith's legacy will never go away.

John Feinstein at the Washington Post who once wanted to write a book about Smith but couldn't because of his failing health, talks about his appreciation for Dean Smith's life.

SB Nation's Kevin Trahan says Dean Smith was indeed an educator and Ricky O'Donnell discusses his activism and innovations.

A a few others: Eric Prisbell at USA Today, Pat Forde at Yahoo!, SSean Gregory at Time Magazine and John McCann at the Durham Herald Sun.