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| At 50 seasons, Jim Smith
wasn't the longest-tenured coach at St. John's, which boasts
several who have coached in Collegeville through the
decades. St. John's photo by Tommy O'Laughlin |
When Jim Smith was contacted by St. John’s University to be the men’s basketball coach, he didn’t know the school existed.
Now half a century later, the basketball program hasn’t known another coach beside Smith.
Smith is in the midst of his 50th season at the helm of the Johnnies’ basketball team, building a career with several milestones, friendships and memories.
“When the job was offered to me, I never thought I would be around for 50 years. I wasn’t even sure at that time if I’d ever live to be 50 years old,” Smith said. “Being here 50 years, it has gone by so fast.”
Smith was about to turn 30 years old when the job was offered to him. Now he’s approaching 80 with seven MIAC titles, five MIAC tournament championships and 17 total postseason tourney appearances.
“It’s been a great run. It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s been a lot of basketball games – believe me,” said Smith, who is scheduled to coach his 1,300th game when St. John’s when hosts Bethel on Jan. 4. “They’re all gut-wrenching. Every one of them – the day before and the day after and the night of the game.
“The fact that I have great assistant coaches really helps out too.”
When Smith first arrived in Collegeville, he thought he might be on campus for three to five years. But he and his wife Adrienne had five young children when they moved to Minnesota and had two more after settling into their new community, so they decided to stay in the area and raise their family.
That stay has lasted five decades.
But Smith isn’t the only long-tenured coach at St. John’s. Most notably, John Gagliardi coached the Johnnies’ football team for 64 seasons.
“I’m sure part of it is coincidence,” Smith said. “But the fact that John was here, what, 60 years is incredible. And the fact that I’m here 50 years – I don’t think there is any university or college in the United States where they have had a football and basketball coach coaching as long as we did. That’s so very unusual.
“There’s something about the university – something about the campus and the graduates and the students that we have – that make it a great situation.”
Pat Haws coached men’s soccer at St. John’s from 1978-2009, Jerry Haugen has coached the baseball team for 36 seasons and Tim Miles is in his 35th season coaching track and field.
“The stability of the place is tremendous,” Smith said. “It’s been a great place to be because the administration is so supportive.”
There have been countless memories over the last 50 years as Smith as compiled a 758-538 career record. But he looks back fondly on two teams in particular.
The first was the 1968-69 MIAC championship squad.
“I don’t think we had ever won a MIAC conference championship in modern-day basketball,” Smith said. “And the people that we had on the team and their parents were so special – that whole group from the time that I got here until we won that conference championship.
“That was such a great rush.”
In the 1978-79 season, the team stumbled out of the gate before turning in a season to remember.
“We got beat the first two games of the season and then won 27 in a row and ended up beating Mankato State in the NAIA district playoffs in a fantastic college basketball game at Mankato. Great crowd. Two great teams,” Smith said. “We won in overtime.”
Pat McKenzie graduated from St. John’s in 1979 after playing for Smith. His sons also played for Smith. Pat McKenzie Jr. is now an assistant coach with the Johnnies and Kevin McKenzie is a senior on the team.
“It’s been pretty cool to hear stories from when my dad was playing and then also when my brother was playing and kind of relating to now when I’m here,” said Kevin McKenzie. “I wouldn’t be here if they didn’t have a great experience with him. I think it’s a testament to how great Coach Smith has been – not only to our family but to everyone that’s ever played for him.”
The game of basketball has evolved during Smith’s run as the Johnnies’ head coach. Most notably, the addition of the 3-point arc and the 35-second shot clock.
Although they were dramatic changes, Smith was in favor of them – even before others were.
“When I was president of the NAIA basketball association, we had at one time tried to push through the 35-second clock … and also the 3-point shot – this was before the NCAA did it,” Smith said. “Our membership voted it in, and we got voted down by the trustees of the NAIA.”
So is Smith an old-school coach or a dynamic leader that changes with the game?
“I’d say he’s got a pretty good mix,” Kevin McKenzie said. “I think he’s definitely got the old-school side to him. But at the same time, we’re running a dribble-drive offense, which wasn’t around when he was first starting coaching. So I think he’s shown some willingness to adapt to the game. But I think there’s definitely some tendencies of old-school – blue collar and being tough.”
Smith won his 700th career game in 2009 and coached his 1,000th game in 2002. But he said milestones do not mean a lot to him.
But one mark he is proud of is the graduation rate of his program.
“In 49 years, we’ve only had one player that has not graduated. So we’re almost 100 percent,” Smith said.
In addition to serving as basketball coach, Smith has also served as athletic director and a coach for golf, cross country and track. That made for a busy schedule, but he had support from his wife at home.
“When I look back, I think my wife is a saint,” Smith said. “I was on the road when I was coaching cross country and basketball and track and field. I was gone almost every single weekend of the year. Then throw in recruiting on top of it, it was really a busy time.
“If you’re going to be coaching that long and coach that many sports and be involved that much, you have to have a very forgiving wife.”
With half a century of coaching under his belt, should people expect another 50 years of Jim Smith pacing in front of the St. John’s bench?
“I don’t think I’ll make it 50 years,” Smith said with a laugh. “I’m just taking it a year at a time or a day at a time and hope that everything works out well.”
“I’m kind of done guessing,” Kevin McKenzie said. “Ever since I’ve been here, all the senior classes say they think he’s going to retire when they graduate.
“He’s just a great guy and a great coach,” the senior added. “I’m just happy to be able to play for him.”
1,000 points
UW-Whitewater’s Mary Merg recently eclipsed 1,000 career points when she scored 21 at Wheaton (Ill.) on Nov 30. She is the 13th player in program history to reach the mark.
On the men’s side, Illinois College’s Brandon Berry scored his 1,000th point in a meeting at Ripon. Berry scored 18 points in the game.
Where they rank
UW-Stevens Point is ranked No. 1 in this week’s Top 25 men’s poll, headlining eight Regional teams ranked this week.
The Pointers received 16 first place votes and sit nine points ahead of Wooster.
Illinois Wesleyan moved up two places to No. 3 while UW-Whitewater dropped to No. 8 in the poll.
St. Thomas checks in at No. 12 – up three places from a week ago. Augustana and St. Norbert also moved up the ranks to Nos. 15 and 16, respectively.
UW-Stout moves into the Top 25 for the first time at No. 19 and Wheaton is ranked No. 22.
Whitworth (21), Augsburg (14), North Central (Ill.) (9) and Dubuque (3) also received votes this week.
Whitman is the highest ranked team in the women’s Top 25, coming in at No. 5.
UW-Whitewater, St. Thomas and George Fox are ranked Nos. 9, 10 and 11, respectively while Carthage and Wheaton (Ill.) move up to Nos. 15 and 16, respectively.
UW-Stevens Point moved up three spots to No. 19 and rival UW-Oshkosh enters to the Top 25 at No. 22.
Cornell (27), St. Norbert (10) and Concordia (Wis.) (2) received votes as well.
Marquee games
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will host cross-street rival Pomona-Pitzer on Wednesday. It will be the last meeting between the two teams in Ducey Gymnasium. CMS has plans to replace Ducey Gym with a new athletic center – Roberts Pavilion.
Both the men’s and women’s teams at UW-Whitewater and UW-Stevens Point will square off in a battle of ranked WIAC programs Wednesday. The No. 1 Pointer men will host No. 8 Whitewater at Berg Gym while the No. 9 Warhawk women welcome No. 19 Stevens Point to Kachel Gym.
No. 22 UW-Oshkosh will host St. Norbert – currently receiving votes – in a non-conference game Monday.
Check in
Do you have a story idea for the Around the Region column? Contact me about approaching milestones, broken records, break-out players or any other storylines in the area’s conferences. Or just drop me a note and let me know what you like or don’t about the column. All ideas and feedback are welcome. Email me at josh.smith@d3sports.com or follow me on Twitter at @DU_Josh_Smith.
