Dean Smith Center

Background and early history

Before building the Smith Center, the UNC basketball team played in Carmichael Auditorium. Although Carmichael was fairly new, having opened in 1965, basketball's popularity overwhelmed the 10,180-seat facility, and "you had to know somebody who knew somebody" to get into a game. As early as 1979, talks began for a new arena. With the hope of accommodating every fan who would want to attend a game, the plans became very ambitious. Money was raised entirely from private donations, using neither university funding nor taxes. According to David Halberstam's biography of Michael Jordan, Smith did not want the arena named after him, but was persuaded by the UNC administration and the arena's backers that fundraising efforts for the facility could fail if they did not use his name. The site chosen for the arena was a wooded ravine south of the main campus, and construction began in 1982. On the first day of construction, contractors were banned from wearing Duke or N.C. State apparel on the job site.

The first game at the new arena featured the #1 Tar Heels against the #3 Duke Blue Devils on January 18, 1986. Mark Alarie of Duke scored the first basket, but Warren Martin soon followed with the first Tar Heel basket in the new arena, Kenny Smith was credited with the assist. North Carolina ended up defeating Duke 95–92.

Architecture and renovations

The building is a partial dome; most of the roof is trussed, with a braced fabric dome covering a relatively small central area.

The seating bowl has a basic 2-level structure, with a "club ring" formed from the front rows of the upper deck. Like most arenas of its era, the Smith Center does not have luxury boxes or separate club areas. Unlike multipurpose arenas where the seats are oriented around the ice hockey rink (e.g. Greensboro Coliseum, PNC Arena), the seat layout at the Smith Center is designed specifically for basketball. Seating rows begin right at the sides of the basketball court, and the building's octagonal shape is arranged around the court's dimensions. According to architect Glenn Corley of Corley Redfoot Zack, it was a challenge to both have fans feel "close to the court" and ensure unobstructed views from all angles.

The arena originally seated 21,444. Seating adjustments brought capacity to 21,572 in 1992. Capacity rose again to 21,750 when a standing-room-only courtside area was installed for students. The largest crowd to see a game in the Dean Dome was on March 6, 2005, when 22,125 fans saw the Tar Heels win 75–73 against Duke.

Major renovations have been discussed for the arena, which is now three decades old, but reconstruction would be complex both financially and structurally.

Basketball environment

The Smith Center has an excellent basketball atmosphere thanks to the very high seating capacity and strong demand for tickets. However, there have been occasional controversies over distribution of seats to various groups and the perception that the large space lacks energy and noise.

The arena's seating arrangement has been somewhat controversial. Most of the lower-level seats were allocated to members of UNC's athletic booster foundation, the Educational Foundation (better known as the Rams Club). Furthermore, most of those seats are season tickets. While tickets are usually available for most non-conference games, Atlantic Coast Conference games are almost always sold out. For many years, scalping was virtually the only way to get in for ACC games. Recently, UNC has begun putting any tickets returned by the visiting team on sale at 5 pm Eastern Time on the day before any game that is sold out. This is usually the only way to get a seat for anywhere near face value.

In its early years, the arena was known as among the quieter ones in the country because many seats that would have been occupied by students at other schools were occupied by considerably older alumni who were not so inclined to cheer anywhere near as loudly. This led Florida State player Sam Cassell to say that the Dean Dome “is not a Duke kind of crowd. It’s more like a cheese-and-wine crowd, kind of laid back." In contrast, Carmichael Auditorium was known for its noise level; before one game, the Virginia Cavaliers couldn't hear their names announced during player introductions because of the din.

Since 1992, however, expanded student seating and a younger alumni base has made the Smith Center louder. For example, after the Tar Heels defeated then top-ranked Ohio State in 2006, Buckeyes coach Thad Matta stated, "I think I’ve never been in a building that was as loud as that building was at times." Earlier, after the then top-ranked Connecticut Huskies were defeated by Carolina at the Dean Dome in 2004, Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said, "I don't know what they are talking about because there was no 'wine and cheese' crowd here today."

The arena is usually at its loudest for games against Duke. However, during a regular-season game against Maryland in 2000, more students were allowed into the lower level. The game had been postponed two days because of a heavy snowstorm. Students were also allowed to take most of the lower level seats during the Tar Heels' National Invitation Tournament appearance in 2003.

Home court advantage

The Tar Heels have one of the most formidable home-court advantages in the country, rarely losing more than three home games in a season. One of the few times they have lost more than that was the 2009–2010 season, when they finished with a disappointing 5 home losses (16–16 overall). As of the end of the 2009–2010 season, North Carolina had a record of 282–56 (.834) at the Smith Center, an average of 11.5 wins and just 2.1 losses per year. They have gone undefeated at home four times since the arena opened (1986–1987, 1992–1993, 2004–2005 and 2010–2011).

The first loss to occur at the Dean Dome happened on February 20, 1986 to a University of Maryland team led by Len Bias. Maryland won a thrilling 77-72 overtime game against the top-ranked Tar Heels.

Non-basketball uses

The arena has also held many concerts and is used by many of the graduate and professional schools, such as the UNC School of Law, for commencement ceremonies each year, as well as the same for all undergraduates receiving degrees in December of each year. It is also the graduation site for the local high schools each June.

Advertising arrangements, such as a signage deal with Wachovia Bank (now Wells Fargo) fund the arena.

The arena has also hosted concerts from Janet Jackson, Morrissey, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, Phil Collins, Genesis, Grateful Dead, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, Boyz II Men, and many others. On April 28, 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama held a rally in the arena in anticipation of the North Carolina primary. President Obama (a Senator at the time) spoke in front of 18,000 while showing support of his surroundings in a Carolina-blue tie.