Tom Smith (born September 8, 1944) was the head men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach at

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. It is an independent Lutheran university with five colleges. It enrolls nearly 2,300 students and has a campus. The university is known for its Luthe ...

from 1980 until 1988. Smith played basketball at Horace Mann High School in

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

and collegiately for Valparaiso. During his leadership, the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

joined the AMCU in 1982. The 1983–1984 season was the first in Crusader history to appear in a conference tournament, losing to

Western Illinois Forgottonia (), also spelled Forgotonia, is the name given to a 16-county region in Western Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This geographic region forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois (area west of 90° Longitude West) t ...

. His career record with the Crusaders was 84–138. Tom coached 25 of his 38 seasons at Missouri Western, where he compiled a 448–279 record.Smith Announces Retirement 5 December 2012
/ref> Smith coached the Griffons to 10 NCAA Division II national tournaments, five MIAA regular season championships and four MIAA postseason tournament titles. Smith has also been named MIAA Coach-of-the-year twice while he was at MWSU. Under Smith's guidance, Western has produced an MIAA Most valuable player, an MIAA tournament MVP, 45 All-MAA selections, six All-Region picks, and three NCAA All-Americans. He currently has a .586 overall winning percentage at the college level, ranking him in the top 20 active coaches, and also is the winningest coach in Missouri Western history.

Head coaching record at MWSU

References

1944 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Michigan Basketball players from Detroit Central Missouri Mules basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Missouri Western Griffons men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Gary, Indiana Valparaiso Beacons men's basketball coaches Valparaiso Beacons men's basketball players Basketball players from Gary, Indiana 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-basketball-coach-stub