John Smith (basketball, born 1969)

John David Smith[1] (born March 12, 1969) is an American college basketball coach who is the special assistant to the head coach at the University of Washington. He previously served as the head coach of the Cal Poly Mustangs men's basketball team.

John Smith
Current position
TitleSpecial assistant to the head coach
TeamWashington Huskies
ConferenceBig Ten
Biographical details
Born (1969-03-12) March 12, 1969 (age 55)
Riverside, California, U.S.
Playing career
1987–1989UNLV
1992–1994Dominican
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2000–2004San Bernardino Valley
2004–2013Riverside CC
2013–2019Cal State Fullerton (assistant)
2019–2024Cal Poly
2024–presentWashington (SATTHC)
Head coaching record
Overall30–117 (.204)
265–118 (.692) NJCAA
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
CCCAA State Champion (2009), 4x Orange Empire Conference (2005,07,10-11), Foothills Conference (2003)
Awards
5x Orange Empire Coach of the Year (2005,07,10-11,13), Foothills Coach of the Year (2003)

Playing career

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A standout at John W. North High School, Smith originally began his college basketball career at UNLV under Jerry Tarkanian, who coached Smith's father, Fred "Lucky" Smith, while he was the head coach at Riverside City College.[2][3][4] Smith would finish his playing career at Dominican where he played for his brother Steve, and was a NAIA All-California honorable mention and all-conference selection.[5] Smith graduated from Dominican in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.[1]

Coaching career

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Smith's coaching career included stops at the College of Southern Idaho and Chaffey College as well as the high school ranks at his alma mater J.W. North, and Valley View High School as an assistant coach. In 2000, Smith was hired was the head coach and assistant athletic director at San Bernardino Valley College. He would guide the team to an 88–40 record in four seasons, including a Foothill Conference championship during the 2002–03 season.[6] In 2004, Smith accepted the head coaching position at Riverside City College where he went 196–87 with four conference championships including the 2009 California State Championship, the school's first in 43 years since when Jerry Tarkanian was coaching.[3]

Smith accepted the position of assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton under Dedrique Taylor in 2013.[7] He would stay on staff for six seasons and was part of the Titans' Big West Conference tournament-winning squad and 2018 NCAA tournament appearance.[8]

On March 28, 2019, Smith was named the head coach at Cal Poly, replacing Joe Callero.[9][10]

Personal life

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Smith's son Jamal currently plays for Cal State Fullerton, while his daughter Kianna plays basketball at Louisville.[11][12] His father "Lucky" also played college basketball at Utah State and Hawaii, and was a sixth round selection of the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1968 NBA draft.[13][14][15]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
San Bernardino Valley College Wolverines (Foothills) (2000–2004)
2000-01 San Bernardino Valley College
2001-02 San Bernardino Valley College
2002-03 San Bernardino Valley College 1st CCCAA State Tournament Semifinals
2003-04 San Bernardino Valley College
San Bernardino Valley College: 88–40 (.688)
Riverside City College Tigers (Orange Empire) (2004–2013)
2004-05 Riverside City College 1st
2005-06 Riverside City College
2006-07 Riverside City College 1st
2007-08 Riverside City College
2008-09 Riverside City College CCCAA State Championship
2009-10 Riverside City College 1st
2010-11 Riverside City College 1st
2011-12 Riverside City College
2012-13 Riverside City College 19-9 9-3
Riverside City College: 196–87 (.693)
Cal Poly Mustangs (Big West) (2019–2024)
2019–20 Cal Poly 7–23 4–12 9th
2020–21 Cal Poly 4–20 1–15 10th
2021–22 Cal Poly 7–21 2–12 T–9th
2022–23 Cal Poly 8–25 1–17 11th
2023–24 Cal Poly 4–28 0–20 11th
Cal Poly: 30–117 (.204) 8–76 (.095)
Total: 30–117 (.204)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ a b The Firebrand 1994. Dominican University of California. 1994. p. 25. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  2. ^ "John Smith College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  3. ^ a b "AREA COLLEGES: Former RCC coach Smith named to Hall of Fame". 23 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Riverside City College Athletics". Riverside City College Athletics.
  5. ^ "John Smith". California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  6. ^ "San Bernardino Valley College Athletics". San Bernardino Valley College Athletics.
  7. ^ "BASKETBALL: A conversation with departing RCC coach John Smith". 19 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Cal State Fullerton Athletics". Cal State Fullerton Athletics.
  9. ^ "John Smith Named Cal Poly Men's Basketball Head Coach". Cal Poly. 28 March 2019. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  10. ^ "Cal Poly hire Cal State Fullerton's John Smith as men's basketball coach". 28 March 2019.
  11. ^ "Running In The Family". University of California Golden Bears Athletics.
  12. ^ "John and Jamal Smith continue basketball bond with Titans". 21 November 2016.
  13. ^ "Fred Lucky Smith College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  14. ^ Jares, Joe. "THE PIED PIPER FROM PASADENA". Vault.
  15. ^ "Fred Smith Player Profile, Hawaii, NCAA Stats, Awards - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com.
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