From Publishers Weekly
Smith, basketball coach of the University of North Carolina and one of the most successful in the country, is a very private person. Ensconced in a baronial office in the Smith Center at Chapel Hill, he has two secretaries to keep out unwanted visitors. And it appears from this volume that he remained almost equally remote from the author, former editor of The Chapel Hill Newspaper , who surely did not get very far inside Dean Smith. As the title suggests, the coach does run his team like a corporate CEO, and a very big business it is, with players flying by chartered jet and staying at first-class hotels. Holstrom followed the team through the 1987-88 season, when it won the Atlantic Coast Conference title and almost made it to the NCAA's Final Four.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Feinstein's new book is more insightful and dramatic than his best-selling study of Bobby Knight, A Season on the Brink . This time his lens widens beyond Indiana to a panoramic view of all of college basketball in the 1987-88 season. He records the drama of an American subculture populated by players, coaches, referees, college administrators, and fans. He is convincing when discussing ineffective NCAA policies, the pressure attached to winning, and the heroics of Danny Manning and Steve Kerr. The only flaws in this detailed account are that Eastern and Midwestern college teams get most of the attention, and there is no index. Louie is a light, informative retrospective on the career of St. John's long-term coach. One chapter is devoted to why he wears his trademark sweater. Carnesecca touches on the dark side of college balldrugs and alcoholand highlights two key players: Willis Reed and Chris Mullin. The book is especially ideal for YA readers. Holstrom's book should end any doubt about college basketball as big business. The well-oiled North Carolina machine, including expensive fund-raising banquets, privately owned dormitories for players, and a $33.8-million sports arena named after Smith, show him to be a corporate-minded coach. The game-by-game narrative seems almost tangential to the book's "business" premise. Of all the coaches who could have written an autobiography, Tarkanian is probably the most controversial and egocentric. Predictably, he portrays himself as highly dedicated and successful and is defensive about his numerous NCAA violations at University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Not recommended. Two other college basketball booksMark Montieth's Passion Play: A Season with the Purdue Boilermakers and Coach Gene Keady and Bill Frieder and Jeff Mortimer's Basket Case: The Frenetic Life of Michigan Coach Bill Frieder (both Bonus Bks., 1988)pale in comparison with Feinstein's, whose own sketches of Keady are entertaining. Tom Reigstad, Buffalo State Coll., SUNY
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
