Dean Smith, who built the University of North Carolina men’s basketball team into a perennial national power in his 36 years at Chapel Hill and became one of the game’s most respected figures for qualities that transcended the court, died on Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 83.

The university announced his death. His family said in 2010 that he had a progressive neurological disorder that affected his memory.

Smith had 879 victories, fourth most among major college men’s basketball coaches, and his teams won two national championships.

But it was his values — his fight against racial discrimination when segregation was still prevalent in the South and his insistence that his players prepare themselves for a future beyond the game — that earned him an especially enduring stature.