Dean Smith was a prodigious letter writer, and since his death in 2015, an increasing number of those letters have been making their way to the public sphere.
Over the weekend, former Tar Heel Michael Brooker shared a pair that Smith sent to him in 1995, as North Carolina recruited him.
Also found these two from late '95 right before I took my official visit to Chapel Hill. pic.twitter.com/Aa1FwzmAQC
— michael wesley brooker, sr (@m_brooker11) August 6, 2017
“I surely look forward to seeing the two of you in Chapel Hill and showing you our University,” Smith wrote. “Thanks for allowing us the opportunity on such short notice!!”
Brooker ended up as a member of Smith’s 1996 recruiting class, playing in 71 games during his four-year career in the ACC.
Smith has long been known to be inclined to handwritten notes, a flourish from an era that seems very long ago but also quite endearing. The Washington Post detailed Smith’s handwriting habit here in quite a bit of detail.