When former UNC guard Al Wood opened up on Dean Smith's role in his life: "He was like a father to me, because I didn’t have a dad"

Al Wood played four years at UNC from 1978 to 1981. At the time, he was coached by the legendary Dean Smith. The legendary coach died on Feb. 7, 2015, aged 83.

In an article published by Fox Sports in February 2015, after Smith's death, it captured Wood's words from 2011, where he recalled Smith as a fatherly figure. Wood lost his dad when he was young.

“He was like a father to me, because I didn’t have a dad," Wood said.

Wood also said that Smith was his go-to person for almost anything in his personal life.

"I could talk to him about any and everything," Smith said. My children, my marriage, my finances, my religion, my spiritual beliefs, his spiritual beliefs. When he’d speak to you, he’d make sure to tell you to hug and kiss and take care of your wife and children. That was the most important thing we were ever going to do while we were on the earth. "That’s the thing that sticks with me the most considering I came up without a dad. I had to learn how to be a dad. It wasn’t something I was trained at. I didn’t know how to do it, and I used to go to him quite a bit.”

Smith served as an assistant coach at Kansas and Air Force before he was hired as an assistant coach at North Carolina in 1958. Smith was promoted to the Tar Heels' head coach in 1961 and left a lasting impression on the program.

During Smith's tenure at UNC, he led the team to two national titles, 17 ACC regular season titles and 13 conference tournament titles. He retired from coaching in 1997 and was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

UNC retired Al Wood's jersey

NCAA Basketball: Former UNC star Al Wood - Source: Imagn

Across his four years at UNC, Al Wood averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He led the Tar Heels to the national title game in 1981, where they lost to Indiana.

North Carolina paid a special tribute to Wood and honored his No. 30 jersey after he left the program. Wood played six seasons in the NBA after the Atlanta Hawks drafted him in the first round in 1981.

Wood also had stints with the then-San Diego Clippers, then-Seattle Supersonics and the Dallas Mavericks. He also played a few years in Europe before retiring in 1991.

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Edited by Krutik Jain