‘Homegrown Kentucky guy’ Steve Smith bidding farewell to coaching
Oak Hill Academy Coach Steve Smith, who describes himself as “a homegrown Kentucky guy,” announced on Tuesday that he will retire effective on July 1.
Two days later, his father, Winston Smith, died at age 93. The elder Smith was a coach, role model and then some for his son.
“I got into coaching because I watched how he not only coached his players but had relationships with each one of them,” Steve wrote in a text message. “And he cared about them on and off the court.
“My dad was my hero, and I wanted to be like him. I firmly believe that it was God’s will for me to be a coach, and my dad was my shining example of that.”
In 1965, Winston started the intercollegiate athletics program — and was the first basketball coach — at Asbury College, as his alma mater (class of 1950) was then known. Steve and his twin brother, Stu Smith, were 10 years old.
“Steve would sit on Dad’s bench keeping stats,” Stu said. “So, he came by it honestly.”
Steve recalled his father taking him to Memorial Coliseum in 1965. This was just to see where Kentucky played its home games.
“It was the old days,” Steve said. “You could just walk in there.”
Steve recalled attending his first Kentucky game in 1966. “I remember watching Pat Riley jump center,” he said with a chuckle at the memory of the nickname Rupp’s Runts on display.
As Steve recalled, the Smiths sat in their living room and watched on a black-and-white television as the Runts played Texas Western in the 1966 national championship game. “Being shocked when they lost,” he said.
After graduating from Jessamine County High School in 1973, Steve and Stu attended Asbury. They played for their father with Stu the point guard and Steve the shooting guard.
After graduating from Asbury in 1977, Steve went on to get a master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University. Stu went to seminary school.
Steve joined the Oak Hill Academy basketball staff in 1983. Two years later, he was named head coach.
In 37 seasons, he has compiled a record of 1,225-98 going into this weekend’s games. That makes him third on the list of most high school coaching victories — behind Robert Hughes (1,333 coaching for high schools in Fort Worth, Texas) and Morgan Wootten (1,274 at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md.).
Steve took comfort that his father attended the Oak Hill game last Oct. 29 when his son’s victory total reached 1,200. “He was walking with a cane, getting kind of feeble,” Steve said.
Winston’s wife, Lynn Smith, died last July 1 at age 86. She gave birth to the twins on her 21st birthday. “He’s been ready to go since she passed away,” Steve said.
As Oak Hill coach, Steve has worked with 34 McDonald’s All-Americans and more than 250 players who’ve gone on to Division I college programs. Thirty-five Oak Hill players eventually became NBA Draft picks.
Six players went from Oak Hill to UK: Ron Mercer, Jules Camara, Rajon Rondo, Cliff Hawkins, Doron Lamb and Keldon Johnson. A player in the high school class of 2022, Chris Livingston, signed with UK.
“People always accuse me of sending all my players to Kentucky …,” Steve said before noting that he’s had players go to Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and many other programs. “I don’t steer players anywhere. I give guidance, but I never tell them where to go.”
Steve cited several reasons why he will retire after this season. For starters, he is 66 years old. This hit home last summer when Steve wished one of his former players, Rod Strickland, a happy birthday.
Steve asked Strickland, who was a special assistant to UK Coach John Calipari from 2009 through 2014, how old he was. Strickland turned 55.
“I’m, like, holy smokes,” Steve said. “I coached you. That really made me want to retire.”
Steve and his wife, Lisa, would like to spend more time with grandsons Miles and Hayes, who live in Nashville.
“I’m not going to coach any more,” he said of the post-Oak Hill life he envisions. “Because that’s a 24-hour-a-day job.”
This echoed something South Carolina Coach Frank Martin said after his team lost to Kentucky on Tuesday. Still unhappy that his team faded after rallying to tie the score at 43-43, Martin said, “Bob Huggins told me, we’ve chosen this life. You can’t complain about NIL and the portal. … It’s the life we’ve chosen: to be miserable.”
Steve stopped short of miserable, but …
“You come home and it seems like that’s all you talk about at home,” he said. “It almost consumes you. … It is a taxing profession and it wears you out.”
Age-old question
Joe B. Hall was the oldest living coach who had led his team to a national championship game. His 1974-75 Kentucky team lost to UCLA in the NCAA Tournament finals. His 1977-78 UK team won the NCAA championship.
Question: With Hall’s death last month, who now is the oldest living coach to lead his team to a national championship game?
Answer: Don Donoher, who led Dayton to the 1967 NCAA Tournament championship game. This nugget was researched and verified by Mike Lopresti of NCAA.com.
This surprised Donoher, who just turned 90.
“I am? How do they keep finding this stuff?” Donoher told Lopresti.
To reach the 1967 title game, Dayton beat Western Kentucky in overtime, Tennessee by a point, Virginia Tech in another overtime game and then a North Carolina team led by Dean Smith in his Final Four debut.
“That was a night of celebration,” Donoher told Lopresti. “We celebrated too much. We should have worried about the next night.”
At that time, the championship game was played the day after the national semifinals. Dayton lost 79-64 to an unbeaten UCLA team coached by John Wooden and led by Lew Alcindor (now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
How did Dayton prepare for Alcindor/Abdul-Jabbar?
“Prayers,” Donoher told Lopresti. “He was just too dominant a figure. I like to think if we had a day and had a little more preparation, we could have done some things to slow down the pace of the game.”
With Hall’s passing, Denny Crum is now the oldest living national championship coach at 84. He led Louisville to titles in 1980 and 1986. Other former championship game coaches now in their 80s are Jim Harrick (UCLA), Bob Knight (Indiana) and Nolan Richardson (Arkansas).
Of being the oldest, Donoher said, “It’s motivation to take care of myself. I don’t want to lose that title.”
Looking ahead
Mississippi State Coach Ben Howland was asked if guard Iverson Molinar should be considered a prime candidate for SEC Player of the Year.
“We have to win more games for him to be a candidate,” Howland said. “I always vote for (a player on the) team that wins (the championship) almost without exception. …
“So, as of right now, the Player of the Year is going to come from Auburn University.”
Howland suggested that Molinar is one of the best players in the SEC this season.
“Without a doubt,” the State coach said. “But Player of the Year is going to come from one of the top two teams. It’s either going to be (Oscar) Tshiebwe or it’s going to be the freshman Jabari (Smith of Auburn).”
Turnover …
And an embarrassing one at that.
Last Sunday’s notes column had a mistake needing correction. It should have read: James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, started the Kansas program upon arriving at KU in 1898 (not 1998, of course).
Credit an assist to a reader who pointed out the mistake due to a typing error.
Happy birthday
To Leroy Byrd. He turned 59 on Friday. … To Andy Dumstorf. The student fired from UK’s sports information department because he was a Louisville fan turned 58 on Friday. … To Josh Harrellson. He turned 33 on Saturday. … To Hall of Famer Bill Russell. He turned 88 on Saturday. … To Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski. He turns 75 on Sunday (today). … To Ray Edelman. He turns 70 on Monday. … To Tod Lanter. He turns 31 on Tuesday.
