Dean had a direct line to Naismith through phog Allen. Basically I look at dean as the bridge between basketball origins and the new age. He even supported players leaving early as long as they thought they were ready. He truly wanted people to succeed in life not just sports.
Can't put a price on that kind of character.
yeah i realize it sounds like i am a homer but whatever
dean also coached a good 15 years when a) the only way to make the tourney was to win the conference tourney and b) ucla had a run of which we will never see again. any other era of the last 30 years and he has more than 2. hell he woulda won the 98 title going away but he retired instead of hanging on just to win a title (and he intentionally retired late so his good friend coach gut would be guaranteed the job)
dean gave us the scramble d, four corners (which influenced shot clock implementation), huddling at the free throw line, pointing at the assist man and countless other things. college basketball is unrecognizable with no dean. dean laid the foundation for the coach k's and roy's of the world and they will tell you the exact same thing
he integrated the acc, pushed for social progress and refused to take credit for any of it.
there will be a hundred more coach k's before there is another dean smith. the goat