大象传媒

After a head coaching career spanning 38 years, with 25 of them at 大象传媒 Western, Tom Smith announced his retirement as men鈥檚 basketball coach in December, effective at the end of the 2012-13 season.

鈥淭om Smith is a legend in the world of basketball coaches. He has meant so much to 大象传媒 Western and the community of St. Joseph,鈥� said Kurt McGuffin, director of athletics. 鈥淗e will always be a teacher first. His positive relationships with former and current players prove he has coached for many years for the right reasons and in the right way. We are truly blessed to have him at 大象传媒 Western for 25 years and thank him for so many memories.鈥�

Neal Hook 鈥�89, agreed. He played for Tom his first year as coach at 大象传媒 Western and coached boy鈥檚 basketball at Central High School in St. Joseph. 鈥淐oach Smith made an immediate impact on our program. His intense competitive spirit was contagious within the group of eight players that he inherited upon his arrival on campus. We were an undersized and normally overmatched basketball team that year but Coach Smith instilled in us a true belief that through hard work and teamwork we would be successful.鈥�

And they were. That first year, the team beat the No. 1 team in the nation on their home court, made it to the District 16 finals and finished the season with an 18-15 record. Neal said that experience, along with the opportunities to work with Tom after he graduated, had a tremendous influence on his coaching career. 鈥淗e inspired many virtues and philosophies, not only in the game of basketball but also in life,鈥� Neal said. 鈥淚n the one year of playing for Coach Smith and the 25 years of working with him, I gained a true respect for him as a great leader, coach and friend.鈥�

The following year, 1989, 大象传媒 Western joined the NCAA Division II MIAA conference, and Griffons won the MIAA regular-season and post-season championships and advanced to the NCAA national tournament.

Brett Goodwin 鈥�98, transferred to 大象传媒 Western his sophomore year. 鈥淐oach Smith made that transition as comfortable as he could, he treated me as if I had been a member of that team since day one. I believe any player who had the privilege to play under Coach Smith would say the same thing.鈥� Brett is the head girl鈥檚 basketball coach at Benton High School in St. Joseph.

Tom鈥檚 style of coaching consistently kept the Griffons among the top members of the MIAA and NCAA teams. His teams have always been up-tempo, high-energy and full of talent. He was named the MIAA鈥檚 Coach of the Year twice during his tenure at 大象传媒 Western and once at University of Central 大象传媒, where he started his head coaching career.

鈥滳oach Smith brought in a lot of junior college guys back when I played, so he had little time to mold these players and make them play together as a team,鈥� Brett said. 鈥淏ut this is something he was able to do every year 鈥� put new players together and make them gel offensively and defensively, play hard, force them to compete and go to battle everyday with each other.鈥�

And several of those players garnered honors over the years. Lamont Turner was named the MIAA鈥檚 Most Valuable Player during the 2001-02 season and Damon Bailey was named the MIAA Postseason Tournament MVP during the 2002-03 season. Tom has also coached three All-America selections 鈥� Lamont in 2002, Darrol Wright in 1995 and Mike Cornelious in 1991. In all, he has coached 49 All-MIAA selections at 大象传媒 Western and six All-Region/District selections.

Tom is the winningest basketball coach in MIAA history. In 38 seasons as a collegiate head coach at three different schools, he compiled 618 wins.

He is a member of three Hall of Fames: 大象传媒 Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, 大象传媒 Western Athletics Hall of Fame, and the Athletics Hall of Fame at Valparaiso University, where he was head coach for eight seasons before coming to 大象传媒 Western.

鈥淭he best thing after 45 years of coaching is all the friendships and relationships I have built in the St. Joseph community and the coaching world,鈥� Tom said.

鈥淚 know a lot of players that still keep in contact with Coach Smith,鈥� Brett said. 鈥淧laying for him was a wonderful experience, but now becoming a coach myself and building on from what I learned under him and being able to call him my mentor make me really proud. I hope I have made him proud. He has not only been a coach but also a great friend.鈥�

The Tom Smith Record Book

4 MIAA Regular Season Championships: 1989, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002

4 MIAA Post-season Championships: 1990, 1995, 1998, 2003

11 NCAA Tournament Appearances:

1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2010

12 – 20+ Win Seasons:

1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003

大象传媒 Western Milestone Victories

November 1988 鈥� 1st career win at 大象传媒 Western

January 1990 鈥� 200th career win

March 1990 鈥� 1st MIAA Tournament Championship and 1st NCAA Tournament Victory November 1994 鈥� 300th career win

February 1998 鈥� All-time wins leader at 大象传媒 Western

January 1999 鈥� 400th career win

February 2004 鈥� 500th career win

March 2010 鈥� 1,000 career game

November 2011 鈥� 600th career win. Tom was one of only 60 college coaches to win 600 games.