To hear N.C. Central athletics director Bill Hayes tell the story, it's early April -- Hayes seems to recall it might have been April 3, but he really can't remember -- and he's getting ready to putt at Falls Village -- he can't remember the hole, either -- when his cell phone goes off.

Geez, Bill, you didn't turn that darn thing off?

"Hello," Hayes booms.

"Bill, this is Tubby Smith, and I'm calling to tell you Henry Dickerson is your man. You will like this guy."

Hayes gets to thinking, because it has been a while since the Eagles dumped Phil Spence and the school needs to replace him.

After all, there's fund-raising and there's recruiting and then there's scheduling, too. Things have to be worked out.

So then, did Henry Dickerson actually get hired on the Falls Village Golf Course or did Henry Dickerson assume the role of the leading candidate on the Falls Village Golf Course without even being there?

"Now, I'm my own man," Hayes said. "Nobody dictates to me. I heard from Dean Smith and Tubby Smith, but I'm not easily influenced. You know what I mean? But when we talked, Henry and I, it didn't take me long to realize Henry is our man.

"I mean, man, I've been a coach 27 years and in athletics 38 years, and I know a winner when I see one. I love Henry Dickerson's passion. There's no nonsense, no frills. He gets it done."

N.C. Central introduced Dickerson as its new men's basketball coach on Wednesday, and in the background of it all was Tubby Smith. Take that to the bank, no matter what Hayes says.

Now look, you get a call from Kentucky's head basketball coach, whether you're trying to sink a putt or raise 10 grand for your football team, what's it matter? Tubby Smith. Dean Smith. Bill Hayes needed a basketball coach and quickly, too.

"Tubby's call didn't make the hire," Hayes emphasized, seeming to want to make the point that a cell phone not being turned off on a golf course had nothing to do with Henry Dickerson showing up in a neatly pressed dark blue suit, blue shirt and blue necktie on the 28th day of April.

"All it did was validate the position," Hayes said. "It came down to two candidates, and I think I got the right one in Henry. This guy has coached against the giants in the game, and he knows how to put the pieces together."

Background checks say this was a no-brainer. Tubby Smith and Dickerson kind of came up rivals and friends who'd run into each other in the foothills of West Virginia and Kentucky and portions of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

"Tubby was an assistant at VCU and I worked at Marshall and we played against each other in the NIT and recruited against each other," Dickerson said.

Then is Dickerson like Tubby Smith, explosive at times?

"I can be," Dickerson said. "You have to know when to let the energy out. These days, you have to adjust to the way kids are. I can't go back to old school, but I believe you have to prepare kids for the real world. I will put down rules, and you can believe I am a disciplinarian."

Don't think there's not a network that basketball coaches use to help friends, even rivals, land work. True, Dickerson was fired at Chattanooga -- he says he couldn't quite understand why because kids were graduating and he'd won his share of games. But coaches get fired and hired all the time.

"You get depressed when you're fired, but at the same time, you learn from it," Dickerson said. "My college coach, Rick Meckfessel [at Morris Harvey in Charleston, W.Va.] influenced me as well as anyone could, and so did Hubie Brown when he was with the Atlanta Hawks. Right, Hubie would yell a lot, but it was what he was yelling which I learned from."

It all sounded so heart-warming for Dickerson. NCCU chancellor James H. Ammons couldn't resist using the line, "The Eagle has landed," and then went on to point out Dickerson's "solid background in coaching and administration and his ability to balance both."

Come to think of it, all things sounded so darn good. Especially that call Bill Hayes took on his cell phone.

Have a comment or a suggestion for a column? You may contact Frank Dascenzo by phone at 419-6609 or by e-mail at fdascenzo@heraldsun.com.