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Dean Smith’s recruiting letter to Michael Jordan up for auction

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Auctions tend to turn up some interesting items for people to buy, ranging from your standard items to those that are extremely valuable. So where would a recruiting letter that former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith sent to a young Michael Jordan fall? According to Comcast SportsNet Chicago, the letter’s up for auction after a man found it in a storage locker he’d purchased.

The opening price for the letter, with the auction being handled by the same group that sold a valuable Honus Wagner baseball card for $2.1 million? $5,000. The letter, written by Smith to Jordan back in 1980, reads as follows:

Dear Michael,

Our staff surely enjoyed visiting with you and your family there at your beautiful home. It was a delightful evening and one which we were able to use to get to know you better. Hopefully you felt more comfortable with us and that you will consider the University of North Carolina for your college education.

If there are any questions which came up following our departure, please tie me a collect call and I will be happy to discuss them with you. Otherwise we may give you a follow-up call before too long just to touch base.

We do think you are a tremendous young man and are impressed not only with your obvious basketball talent but the way you have been a leader at school and done well adacmedically We look forward to following you closely this year and hope to see you frequently in Chapel Hill.

I am writing your parents separately since they were so very hospitable to us. Enjoyed seeing you, Michael, and hope that beginning in September 1981 I can be your coach.

Most sincerely,

Dean E. Smith

Dated: Aug. 12, 1980


There’s also a photo of the letter in the link provided above, and it looks to be in pretty good shape for something that was written more than three decades ago. It will be interesting to see just how much the letter fetches in the auction, with Jordan’s “flu game” sneakers fetching a record $104,765 last month.

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