DATE: Friday, October 10, 1997              TAG: 9710100906

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER  

DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C.                 LENGTH:   62 lines

PLAYERS SHOCKED BY COACH'S DECISION ``HE WAS LIKE A FATHER TO US,'' TAR HEEL GUARD ED COTA SAYS OF SMITH.

Antawn Jamison couldn't have been happier Wednesday afternoon when he walked into the North Carolina basketball locker room for a team meeting.

``I had just completed my preseason mile run with the fastest time I've had at North Carolina,'' the All-American junior forward said. ``I felt good a new season was about to begin, and that is what I thought the meeting was about. You know, getting the schedule for practices, stuff like that.''

Instead, Jamison and his teammates were shocked to learn the meeting was for coach Dean Smith to announce he was retiring after 36 seasons as UNC coach.

``He started talking and it just didn't make sense,'' Jamison said.

He said Smith barely got the words out before breaking down in tears. Tears swelled in the players' eyes, too.

``It shocked me so badly that I sat up most of the night,'' Jamison said. ``Coach Smith has been a father to me since I've been here. I wanted him to stay until I graduated. But, that's life.''

Jamison and other Tar Heel players were delighted to learn that assistant coach Bill Guthridge would replace Smith.

``There had been rumors of Roy Williams or Eddie Fogler, but coach `Gut' is definitely the right choice,'' Jamison said.

Vince Carter, another junior, said he did not think the team would miss a beat with Guthridge the head coach.

``He has been so much a part of coach Smith's life that it seems they are joined at the hip,'' Carter said. ``He really has coached us more in practice than coach Smith.''

Jamison said Smith would be missed the most at the end of tight games and ``hearing that voice from the sideline'' when someone made a mistake in practice.

Senior guard Shammond Williams said none of the players attempted to talk Smith out of his decision.

``Coach always has told us that we should do what is best for us and our families,'' Williams said. ``Emotionally, this is a sad day for us, but we have to give him that right, too. I think what he did is best for him and his family.''

Sophomore Ed Cota added: ``We are losing a great coach, but (Guthridge) is a great coach, too. I will give him 110 percent, just as I did Coach Smith.''

Cota said Smith told the players that he would still ``be there'' for them if they needed him.

``He's like a father to us,'' Cota said. ``We are all like family and it will be that way with coach Guthridge.''

Carter said it was special to have been part of the Smith's last team.

``We made a lot of history last year, with Coach breaking Adolph Rupp's record for most wins and getting to the Final Four after such a slow start,'' Carter said.

``This makes it even more special. I just wish everyone could have had the experience of playing for him.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A somber group of Tar Heel players listen as Dean Smith makes his

retirement official. The players said they were sad to see Smith

step down, but expressed confidence in new head coach Bill

Guthridge.

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