Keeping It Heel
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UNC Basketball: 4 reasons Tar Heels should hire Kenny Smith as HC

By Blake Cockrum

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 26: TV personality/former NBA player Kenny Smith speaks onstage during the 2017 NBA Awards Live on TNT on June 26, 2017 in New York, New York. 27111_002 (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TNT)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 26: TV personality/former NBA player Kenny Smith speaks onstage during the 2017 NBA Awards Live on TNT on June 26, 2017 in New York, New York. 27111_002 (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TNT) /
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UNC Basketball
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 06: NBA analyst Kenny Smith attends a game between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2019 NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 6, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Why former Tar Heel and two-time NBA champion Kenny “The Jet” Smith could be a good fit for the UNC basketball program

In the event that you, the reader, are not a fan of the North Carolina basketball program, or you’ve been living under a rock over the past week, UNC head coach Roy Williams unexpectedly announced his retirement last Thursday.

That immediately sent the Tar Heels — and the world of college basketball, in general — into a frenzy, with quite possibly the most coveted job in the entire sport becoming available. Names of potential “home run” hires were quickly thrown into the mix, along with the ones that we’d all expect; UNC assistant coaches Hubert Davis and Steve Robinson, as well as UNC-Greensboro’s Wes Miller among the most popular.

There were others, though, that live in the middle ground between the obvious options and the Mark Fews and Jay Wrights and Brad Stevens of the world. They’re names like Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, and yes, even TNT analyst Kenny Smith.

Now, before you get ready to hit the comments section and blast the notion of Smith at the helm for UNC, take a listen. I’m not pushing for the Tar Heels to hire Smith — a TV personality for the past 20-plus years with no real coaching experience — nor am I advocating for it at this juncture. What I am doing, rather, is making the case for his value to the Tar Heels if they were to put him in such a position. And honestly, I think the case is rather compelling.

Here are four reasons why Kenny “The Jet” Smith would be a great hire for the Tar Heels in their search for a new head coach:

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