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Game Changers: Dean Smith, Charlie Scott, and the Era That Transformed a Southern College Town
Among many legendary episodes from the life and career of men's basketball coach Dean Smith, few loom as large as his recruitment of Charlie Scott, the first African American scholarship athlete at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Drawn together by college basketball in a time of momentous change, Smith and Scott helped transform a university, a community, and the racial landscape of sports in the South. But there is much more to this story than is commonly told. In Game Changers, Art Chansky reveals an intense saga of race, college sport, and small-town politics. At the center were two young men, Scott and Smith, both destined for greatness but struggling through challenges on and off the court, among them the storms of civil rights protest and the painfully slow integration of a Chapel Hill far less progressive than its reputation today might suggest. Drawing on extensive personal interviews and a variety of other sources, Chansky takes readers beyond the basketball court to highlight the community that supported Smith and Scott during these demanding years, from assistant basketball coach John Lotz and influential pastor the Reverend Robert Seymour to pioneering African American mayor Howard Lee. Dispelling many myths that surround this period, Chansky nevertheless offers an ultimately triumphant portrait of a student-athlete and coach who ensured the University of North Carolina would never be the same.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 12, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
February 20, 2017
“Game Changers” seems rushed at the end, but is well worth the read. I was especially glad to learn about the importance of the assistant coaches in Charles Scott's life in Chapel Hill. I wish the book had been written before John Lotz died. He would have been an important source for learning about Scott's life as a student. I also wish Chansky had interviewed some of Scott's friends at North Carolina Central University.
April 7, 2023
Chansky’s book brought the narrative of the 1960s closer to my current home of Charlotte. I loved learning about the civil rights movement in chapel hill, dean smith, and Charlie Scott all in the context of each other. What an amazing thing to be the first black varsity basketball player at chapel hill. Brave and lonely. Trailblazing and heartbreaking. And of course no one can help but ask — where would MJ have ended up if not for Charlie Scott at UNC just 15 years earlier?
My expertise in sports writing is practically nonexistent, so this isn’t meant to be a thoughtful, informed critique. Instead, I’ll just say, man. the 1960s. What a decade. (I thought the docuseries 1968 was good, along with the trial of the Chicago 7, along with the book The Nix. Along with countless civil rights works. So many poisons to pick from.) It’s a decade worth revisiting in multiple formats and multiple times. Dean Smith and Charlie Scott’s decisions, together and among others, in the right circumstances, had big impacts. The objectivity and passion around sports can make way for bigger narratives. If only the rest of life was as straightforward.
My expertise in sports writing is practically nonexistent, so this isn’t meant to be a thoughtful, informed critique. Instead, I’ll just say, man. the 1960s. What a decade. (I thought the docuseries 1968 was good, along with the trial of the Chicago 7, along with the book The Nix. Along with countless civil rights works. So many poisons to pick from.) It’s a decade worth revisiting in multiple formats and multiple times. Dean Smith and Charlie Scott’s decisions, together and among others, in the right circumstances, had big impacts. The objectivity and passion around sports can make way for bigger narratives. If only the rest of life was as straightforward.
July 13, 2024
Good book. Pretty underwhelming but interesting nonetheless. If you love Chapel Hill/ UNC I would recommend.
July 5, 2018
Art Chansky cut his teeth at the Daily Tar Heel in the late ‘60s and has been spitting out books on Carolina basketball ever since (https://www.facebook.com/artchanskybo...). You’d think he’d be running out of material to gnaw on, but his latest book, catchily titled “Game Changers,” is very cleverly conceived: Charlie Scott seemingly came out of nowhere and then nothing was the same. For those with short memories, hard as it is now to comprehend, Scott in 1966 became the first black varsity basketball player at UNC. Not only that, but the university itself was desegregated only in name; and the town of Chapel Hill itself was roiled, sometimes violently, by the long-delayed upending of Jim Crow. Any athlete. black or white, who came after Scott stands on his shoulders. A story very much waiting to be told, then, and kudos to Chansky for grasping as much. But executing the game plan successfully is something else.
The idea for the book germinated, Chansky says, with the realization that Scott’s freshman teammates — freshmen were then ineligible for varsity play — included five Morehead Scholars: how to account for such a concentration of intellectual firepower? To Chansky, “this was more than a feature article in a magazine or for a website. It was a full-blown story that needed to be told ….” Chansky might be right, but “Game Changers” falls short of that lofty goal. He might have been better served by focusing his efforts on a feature article.
The clumsy sub-title suggests the nature of the problem: “Dean Smith, Charlie Scott, and the Era that Transformed a Southern College Town.” That’s a lot to chew on. Is this about Smith? Scott? Civil rights in the 60s? The South in the 60s? Chapel Hill in the 60s? Contemporary civil rights? Chansky might say, All of the above, and that appears to be his aim, but a short book (172 pages) can’t possibly carry such a heavy load. More: much of it is filler, recycled and well-known anecdotes about how Smith personally desegregated The Pines; Billy Cunningham stood up for his beleaguered coach; the team felt betrayed when Smith went stall-ball against Alcindor-led UCLA (updated version of this complaint, left unstated: What was the best defense ever devised against Michael Jordan? Dean Smith’s offense); Scott was headed for Davidson and Lefty Driesell when Smith snatched him away at the last moment. Speaking of which, Lefty was quite the character, and as I recall with a fair degree of confidence took to calling Smith “banana nose,” a pretty accurate description as well as payback for Smith’s stealing Scott from under Lefty’s nose. In the event, Scott’s ditching of Davidson meant that Carolina would enjoy multiple Final Four berths, Davidson none. Lefty did get something like the last laugh when in 1970, now at Maryland, he stole Tom McMillen from under Smith’s banana nose. Didn’t get Lefty a championship but quite possibly deprived Smith of a pre-Jordan trophy.
Back to the task at hand: Chansky can’t quite decide whether he’s telling a civil rights tale rooted in a particular time and place, a biography of Scott, or a history of Carolina basketball at the dawn of the Dean Smith era. Chansky most likely knows more than anyone about that last subject, but it’s one he’s retailed before. And the Moreheads on the freshmen team, whose genesis led to the project? Chansky returns to the question midway through the book, raises the theory that Smith wanted a roster “intellectually accepting of the superior athlete” and then more or less drops the subject. The explanation’s a bit facile, it seems to me, because it rests on the notion that the academically gifted are less likely to be racially biased. Just one more loose end. If you want to know more about the civil rights era in Chapel Hill, you can do no better than John Ehle’s transcendent ,“The Free Men” (which, to be sure, Chansky cites and relies on; it’s the definitive work). Want to know more about life in Chapel Hill at that time? Try reminiscences of individuals who lived there in the early 60s, like Carolyn Askew Horn’s marvelous “Evolution of a Southern Conscience: From the Perspective of an Educator.” Want to know more about ACC basketball/? You won’t do better than J. Samuel Walker’s aptly-titled “ACC Basketball: The Story of the Rivalries, Traditions, and Scandals of the First Two Decades of the Atlantic Coast Conference” (Walker, an academic and historian, is the brother of all-time UVA great Wally Walker). If you want to know more about Charlie Scott — and you really should — and don’t mind paying the price of a book for what is really an overstuffed magazine article, “Game Changers” is for you. True, too, if you’re a hard-core Tar Heel fan, which is why I bought it. That, and I clearly recall what a scintillating player he was.
In fairness, it should be noted that “Game Changers” received favorable reviews in the Raleigh News and Observer and The New York Times. The former might be ascribed to home court advantage, but not the latter.
The idea for the book germinated, Chansky says, with the realization that Scott’s freshman teammates — freshmen were then ineligible for varsity play — included five Morehead Scholars: how to account for such a concentration of intellectual firepower? To Chansky, “this was more than a feature article in a magazine or for a website. It was a full-blown story that needed to be told ….” Chansky might be right, but “Game Changers” falls short of that lofty goal. He might have been better served by focusing his efforts on a feature article.
The clumsy sub-title suggests the nature of the problem: “Dean Smith, Charlie Scott, and the Era that Transformed a Southern College Town.” That’s a lot to chew on. Is this about Smith? Scott? Civil rights in the 60s? The South in the 60s? Chapel Hill in the 60s? Contemporary civil rights? Chansky might say, All of the above, and that appears to be his aim, but a short book (172 pages) can’t possibly carry such a heavy load. More: much of it is filler, recycled and well-known anecdotes about how Smith personally desegregated The Pines; Billy Cunningham stood up for his beleaguered coach; the team felt betrayed when Smith went stall-ball against Alcindor-led UCLA (updated version of this complaint, left unstated: What was the best defense ever devised against Michael Jordan? Dean Smith’s offense); Scott was headed for Davidson and Lefty Driesell when Smith snatched him away at the last moment. Speaking of which, Lefty was quite the character, and as I recall with a fair degree of confidence took to calling Smith “banana nose,” a pretty accurate description as well as payback for Smith’s stealing Scott from under Lefty’s nose. In the event, Scott’s ditching of Davidson meant that Carolina would enjoy multiple Final Four berths, Davidson none. Lefty did get something like the last laugh when in 1970, now at Maryland, he stole Tom McMillen from under Smith’s banana nose. Didn’t get Lefty a championship but quite possibly deprived Smith of a pre-Jordan trophy.
Back to the task at hand: Chansky can’t quite decide whether he’s telling a civil rights tale rooted in a particular time and place, a biography of Scott, or a history of Carolina basketball at the dawn of the Dean Smith era. Chansky most likely knows more than anyone about that last subject, but it’s one he’s retailed before. And the Moreheads on the freshmen team, whose genesis led to the project? Chansky returns to the question midway through the book, raises the theory that Smith wanted a roster “intellectually accepting of the superior athlete” and then more or less drops the subject. The explanation’s a bit facile, it seems to me, because it rests on the notion that the academically gifted are less likely to be racially biased. Just one more loose end. If you want to know more about the civil rights era in Chapel Hill, you can do no better than John Ehle’s transcendent ,“The Free Men” (which, to be sure, Chansky cites and relies on; it’s the definitive work). Want to know more about life in Chapel Hill at that time? Try reminiscences of individuals who lived there in the early 60s, like Carolyn Askew Horn’s marvelous “Evolution of a Southern Conscience: From the Perspective of an Educator.” Want to know more about ACC basketball/? You won’t do better than J. Samuel Walker’s aptly-titled “ACC Basketball: The Story of the Rivalries, Traditions, and Scandals of the First Two Decades of the Atlantic Coast Conference” (Walker, an academic and historian, is the brother of all-time UVA great Wally Walker). If you want to know more about Charlie Scott — and you really should — and don’t mind paying the price of a book for what is really an overstuffed magazine article, “Game Changers” is for you. True, too, if you’re a hard-core Tar Heel fan, which is why I bought it. That, and I clearly recall what a scintillating player he was.
In fairness, it should be noted that “Game Changers” received favorable reviews in the Raleigh News and Observer and The New York Times. The former might be ascribed to home court advantage, but not the latter.
April 4, 2025
Interesting story of two Tar Heel legends with no whitewashing of the truth. Not just for basketball fans.
February 21, 2024
personally, giving this book 5 stars. as a UNC student, I found it to be an important read, as I had never heard about the civil rights movement in Chapel Hill before. with so many of the main “game changers” having places named after them or descendants playing a role in local politics today, it felt important that I learn their roots and how they made this town into the one I enjoy today
October 16, 2025
There’s a good story here about the way Dean Smith recruited Charlie Scott to the historically all-white University of North Carolina basketball team. In its way, it’s a Jackie Robinson story that deals with one of the most admirable figures in the history of sport – Dean Smith – and a player in Charlie Scott who wasn’t quite good enough in the NBA to stand with the legends (Kareem in particularly) whom he played alongside.
The trouble is, this story would have worked better as a long article rather than a book. There are a lot of reasons to miss the golden age of Sports Illustrated, and this is one of them. That magazine, in the 40 or more years I knew it at its peak, would have been a great home for this.
But that would have made this a fraction as long as it is. Which would have helped.
Chansky writes with clear enthusiasm. I think he mentions that this is one of several books he’s written on UNC athletics. The trouble is, he often digresses.
For purposes of the central story here, we don’t need anywhere near so much detail about Dean Smith’s childhood. Some, yes, but not a whole chapter. We also don’t need quite so much flashing-forward to the various careers one or another player or coach would have.
I find the sub-plot of Davidson trying to recruit Scott very interesting, and I liked hearing about Lefty Driesell from the dawn of a career I knew only in its twilight, but – again – we don’t need this much detail.
I enjoyed getting to see a focused look at a college basketball context so different from the one I’ve known. Imagine a basketball universe where Duke is largely an afterthought, where NC State and Davidson are more established programs than UNC – which had risen and fallen with their previous carpet-bagging coach Frank McGuire.
And I enjoyed getting to hear about Scott, whose career I didn’t know – though I’d have appreciated more context and perspective. It’s just that, when all is said and done, I’m not sure this particular integration – admirable as it clearly was – carried quite the weight that a book like this puts on it.
Anyway, I read this in part to get psyched for the upcoming NBA season and that seems to have worked. Against all odds, I am looking forward to my Bulls making a run…at a sixth place finish in the East.
The trouble is, this story would have worked better as a long article rather than a book. There are a lot of reasons to miss the golden age of Sports Illustrated, and this is one of them. That magazine, in the 40 or more years I knew it at its peak, would have been a great home for this.
But that would have made this a fraction as long as it is. Which would have helped.
Chansky writes with clear enthusiasm. I think he mentions that this is one of several books he’s written on UNC athletics. The trouble is, he often digresses.
For purposes of the central story here, we don’t need anywhere near so much detail about Dean Smith’s childhood. Some, yes, but not a whole chapter. We also don’t need quite so much flashing-forward to the various careers one or another player or coach would have.
I find the sub-plot of Davidson trying to recruit Scott very interesting, and I liked hearing about Lefty Driesell from the dawn of a career I knew only in its twilight, but – again – we don’t need this much detail.
I enjoyed getting to see a focused look at a college basketball context so different from the one I’ve known. Imagine a basketball universe where Duke is largely an afterthought, where NC State and Davidson are more established programs than UNC – which had risen and fallen with their previous carpet-bagging coach Frank McGuire.
And I enjoyed getting to hear about Scott, whose career I didn’t know – though I’d have appreciated more context and perspective. It’s just that, when all is said and done, I’m not sure this particular integration – admirable as it clearly was – carried quite the weight that a book like this puts on it.
Anyway, I read this in part to get psyched for the upcoming NBA season and that seems to have worked. Against all odds, I am looking forward to my Bulls making a run…at a sixth place finish in the East.
February 15, 2019
This book tells the inspiring story of the desegregation not just of UNC basketball but of the town of Chapel Hill itself. Chansky spends the first half of the book with town politics, and he convincingly shows that the town of Chapel Hill was pretty darn resistant to desegregation despite its reputation for liberalism. His chapter on "The truth about Chapel Hill" is particularly sharp. The book then shifts into a basketball-heavy narrative, looking at Dean Smith's early tenure and the recruiting of Scott. Chansky does a nice job with Scott's career at UNC. Along with Billy Cunningham, Scott was probably the best player Smith had in the 1960s, when his rep was not as established. Scott had an interesting time in Chapel Hill. He faced more loneliness than overt racism. His teammates respected him but it would be hard to say he was truly one of the guys; they had trouble relating and socializing off the court, especially with the significant stigma at the time about interracial dating. He definitely faced racism on the road, like most
This book, to me, was a testament to the symbolic value of sports in achieving integration and working toward equality. Chansky's narration is not always thrilling, but he did a nice job compiling this story and blending local history with sports history. Dean Smith comes across as the ultimate insider, someone who used his position of prestige to pursue justice, mostly behind the scenes. He encouraged his players to be politically engaged, participated in town politics, helped desegregate numerous town institutions, and did more symbolic things like getting the pep hand to stop playing Dixie when Scott was on the team. For this and his basketball success he deserves the legendary status he still has here at UNC. This is a good book for people who like local history and sports, especially (obviously) if you went to UNC or live in the area.
This book, to me, was a testament to the symbolic value of sports in achieving integration and working toward equality. Chansky's narration is not always thrilling, but he did a nice job compiling this story and blending local history with sports history. Dean Smith comes across as the ultimate insider, someone who used his position of prestige to pursue justice, mostly behind the scenes. He encouraged his players to be politically engaged, participated in town politics, helped desegregate numerous town institutions, and did more symbolic things like getting the pep hand to stop playing Dixie when Scott was on the team. For this and his basketball success he deserves the legendary status he still has here at UNC. This is a good book for people who like local history and sports, especially (obviously) if you went to UNC or live in the area.
February 21, 2023
I read this book as part of the North Carolina Humanities book club. It is definitely not a book I would have ever otherwise picked up. I'm not a sports fan. What I know about college basketball could fill a thimble with plenty of room to spare. BUT, I am a native North Carolinian. Those rumors about tvs being wheeled into classrooms during the ACC tournament... completely true. Can verify. If you were a kid in North Carolina during the 80s, you were basically a Carolina fan (and by that we mean NORTH Carolina, not that other place that shall not be named) or you were a Duke fan. Finding the Duke fans marginally more annoying than Carolina fans, I usually rooted for Carolina, if you can call my vast indifference to all things sporty, rooting for a team. Even someone as ignorant about the game as I knew who Dean Smith was. And my coming of age years were in what I would consider the golden age of Carolina basketball, when the giants of the game like Michael Jordan wore Carolina blue and ultimately led the team to the NCAA championship in 1982. Dean Smith had achieved demigod status by that point. But, before that, there was another story... a story about the origins of Dean Smith's tenure as the head coach at Carolina, and the role he played in desegregating the UNC team by recruiting Charlie Scott in 1968. I knew nothing about this story and Art Chansky does a wonderful job setting the stage of a segregated Chapel Hill, on the cusp of the turmoil and change that came with the civil rights movement, and how Dean Smith and courageous young student athletes like Charlie Scott were forging the way for desegregation in higher education in the South. If you love sports (particularly college basketball), Carolina, or Dean Smith, you will love this book. But even if you don't, you'll learn a lot about the power of sports to bring about change and healing.
April 20, 2023
I read this book as part of the NC Humanities NC reads program. This is an important story of the first African American player to play for the UNC basketball team. However, it is not presented in an interesting narrative. Rather, it is a collection of names (too many of them) and facts: Unless you are both a die-hard tobacco-road basketball fan and Chapel Hill resident, you won't find this book that compelling. What really ruined the book for me was the incredibly small type face the publishers chose to use for this edition.It was not a pleasure to read. The best thing the author does in this book is discuss the civil rights era in Chapel Hill -. Highlighting how a supposedly "liberal" town was not much better with race relations than the rest of the South. They still aren't that much better.
September 17, 2021
Charlie Scott changed the game of basketball and community in southern town Chapel Hill. By being the first African American to come play basketball in Chapel Hill he played an integral part of desegregating the conservative town. I learned so much about the history of Chapel Hill in the 60’s, Dean Smith, and Charlie Scott. This book was jam packed with facts, both basketball stats and historical, that blew me away. I even love that Art Chansky took digs at NC State by sharing Dean Smiths victories over them. Highly recommend this read!
July 8, 2021
In retrospect, Charlie Scott was the perfect pioneer of a black basketball player designed to enable integration to succeed at North Carolina. His coach, Dean Smith, was also a change agent and facilitator in progressing change within a segregated society. This book examines not only Charlie’s struggles, but also the struggles of Chapel Hill society in adapting to an integrated society. The benefits, today, are with the blessing of knowing both Charlie and Dean made it possible to succeed.
April 4, 2023
Not being a huge sports fan, I was hesitant about this book initially, and there were times that I did feel it was stuffed with too many stats and details about specific games, but the stories helped weave it all together, and it made me appreciate Dean Smith so much more than I had before. I grew up a Duke basketball fan in the 80’s and 90’s, but hearing the stories of how Dean Smith truly changed the game, as well as the university and community he was a part of, is truly incredible.
June 22, 2023
A dear friend loaned me the book b/c we both know the author. My friend knows of my re-education on racism. I had know idea it would be such a great read.
This book belongs w/ all great collections of Black American History. Thoroughly researched & fully noted, it's much more than a sports book. Long ago the author was the best boss I ever had & this work impresses me even more.
This book belongs w/ all great collections of Black American History. Thoroughly researched & fully noted, it's much more than a sports book. Long ago the author was the best boss I ever had & this work impresses me even more.
September 18, 2020
OK GUYS. my dad read this book and said I would enjoy, I was a little iffy, but this is one of my favorite books. so good and made me ask my dad a lot of questions and really think about history. And I’m not that into sports 🤣🤪
July 9, 2021
Interesting book about a time in the US that was very volatile. If you lived in North Carolina you would be familiar with this story. I am not from NC, so I enjoyed learning about this story and the impact it had and the community of Chapel Hill, NC.
March 19, 2023
You know, I just read this because it was on the NC Reads book lost for March. I didn't understand a lot of the basketball jargon because I am not a sports person. But it was still an interesting read. I wouldn't have it read it normally.
March 21, 2023
Kept my interest, even though I'm not a basketball fan. Fascinating look at the segregation issue right at the time I was a high school/college era. A UNC fan, too. So, a lot to think about the time I grew up!
October 1, 2023
As a semi-fan of a different color blue, it was good to see a different side of Coach Smith. At times an eye opening book which bring an ugly time to light. All North Carolinans, regardless of their choice of blue should read this book.
February 17, 2017
Not enough depth. No real interviews with assistant coaches, other teammates. I wanted to know more about the scene in Chapel Hill. But a decent quick read.
December 22, 2017
Great Read
This book takes you back to that turbulent time for both Coach Smith and Charlie Scott, while separating myth and truth about their relationship.
This book takes you back to that turbulent time for both Coach Smith and Charlie Scott, while separating myth and truth about their relationship.
September 11, 2018
Very detailed beginning and end, yet goes through the 1970s way too fast in terms of the historical and political content.
October 7, 2019
This book is an impactful reminder of Charles Scott's bravery, Dean Smith's beginnings, and the ever-present racism of the Jim Crow South - even in Chapel Hill.
June 12, 2020
An average sports book made more interesting because of the struggles of the time period and region. Charlie Scott does not the receive the recognition he deserves as a pioneer at UNC.
July 31, 2020
Not sure what prompted me to pick this out of the "to-read" pile, but glad I did. Certainly meaningful in today's context.
July 14, 2022
Such a great account of Chapel Hill in the late 60s. I loved the framing the broader civil rights struggle in this period around the Charles Scott and Dean Smith story.
March 10, 2023
Great story, but horribly written
March 25, 2023
The truth is a bit more complicated than the myths that most of us have been told.
August 14, 2023
Well done!!!
February 20, 2024
No personality. Just scrambled facts.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews