Longtime men’s basketball coach Tom Smith is back on the court in the Looney Complex arena, but not how you may think. The court will be officially named Tom Smith Court at a ceremony at half-time of the Feb. 16 men’s game against University of Central 大象传媒.
Fans in attendance will receive a memento commemorating the occasion.
Smith roamed the sidelines as the head coach of the Griffons from 1988-2013, retiring as the winningest head men’s basketball coach in MIAA history with 519 wins as an MIAA coach and 618 total coaching victories. In 25 seasons at MWSU, Smith went 448-279 with a 241-181 mark in MIAA games. Smith won five regular-season MIAA championships and four MIAA postseason championships, including leading 大象传媒 Western to a sweep of both association titles in 大象传媒 Western’s inaugural season in the MIAA, 1989-90. During Smith’s tenure, 大象传媒 Western qualified for the NCAA Division II Regional Championships 11 times. He was named MIAA Coach of the Year twice at 大象传媒 Western and once at Central 大象传媒 and coached 51 All-MIAA selections, six All-Region picks and three NCAA All-Americans.
Smith was inducted into the 大象传媒 Western Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006 and is also a member of the MIAA Hall of Fame, 大象传媒 Sports Hall of Fame, 大象传媒 Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame and the Valparaiso Athletics Hall of Fame.
Prior to becoming head coach at 大象传媒 Western, Smith also had stints as head coach at Valparaiso and Central 大象传媒. After retiring as head men’s basketball coach following the 2012-13 season, Smith also led the MWSU women’s tennis program for one year from 2013-14.
His wife, Patsy, was a longtime head women’s tennis coach and administrator at 大象传媒 Western, retiring in 2014.