Stephen Christopher Smiley (born April 1, 1981) is an American basketball

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

who is the current head coach of the

Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball The Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents University of Northern Colorado (UNC) in Greeley, Colorado, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Big Sky Conference. Postseason histor ...

team.

Playing career

Smiley was a two-time all-state selection from Pomona High School in

Arvada, Colorado Arvada () is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson and Adams counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 124,402 at the 2020 United States Census, with 121,510 residing in Jefferson County and 2,892 residing in Adams C ...

. Smiley played collegiately under Don Meyer at Northern State. He completed his career with the Wolves as the school's record holder in assists with 537, while also ranking third all-time in single-season field goal percentage, along with being named a NSIC all-conference performer his senior year.

Coaching career

Smiley's coaching career began in 2005 as an assistant at then- NAIA institution Black Hills State under Paul Sather for one season before returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach from 2006 to 2008. Smiley was then named the head coach at

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology) is a public polytechnic institute of technology located in the west- Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Founded in ...

in Wyoming, a

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

school. From 2008 to 2014 he led the Generals to a 153-43 overall record with four North Sub-Region 9 titles and two runner-up finishes. They advanced to four Region 9 Final Fours along with two appearances in the championship game. Smiley would join the Division I ranks in 2014 by accepting a position on

Randy Rahe Randy Michael Rahe (born June 12, 1960) is an American college basketball coach and the former head men's basketball coach at Weber State University. Randy Rahe was hired on March 23, 2006, as the 9th coach in Weber State's 47-year history. Rahe ...

's staff at

Weber State Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

and was part of the team's 2016 Big Sky championship team which made an appearance in the

2016 NCAA tournament The 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 20 ...

. The following season he moved to Big Sky rival Northern Colorado as an assistant coach under

Jeff Linder Jeffrey Michael Linder (born June 21, 1977) is an American college basketball coach and current men's basketball head coach at Wyoming. Linder was previously an assistant coach at Emporia State, Midland, Weber State, San Francisco, and Boise ...

. In the four seasons with the Bears as an assistant, the team posted three-straight 20-win seasons, and won the 2018 CIT. On March 20, 2020, three days after Linder departed to take the head coaching position at

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

, Smiley was elevated to head coach, becoming the 20th coach in Northern Colorado history.

Head coaching record

NJCAA

NCAA D1

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smiley, Steve 1981 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Colorado Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball coaches Weber State Wildcats men's basketball coaches Northern State Wolves men's basketball coaches Black Hills State Yellow Jackets men's basketball coaches Sheridan Generals men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from the Denver metropolitan area Northern State Wolves men's basketball players Basketball players from Colorado People from Arvada, Colorado