Former men’s basketball coach Tom Smith received one of the highest honors bestowed on a state citizen when he received the 2013 Missourian Award, a prestigious honor that acknowledges the most accomplished citizens of Missouri.
Criteria includes being born in the state, or under exceptional circumstances, a person may qualify by having spent at least 15 years of their life in the state. Nominees must have made an outstanding contribution to the state or nation in one of the following fields: civics, business, arts or politics.
Smith was also named to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame class of 2014 in November 2013 and will be inducted in January 2014.
He retired from Missouri Western in March 2013 after 25 years at the helm and over 45 years in the coaching profession. He won 618 career games, six MIAA regular season championships, four MIAA postseason championships and took his teams to 12 NCAA Tournaments. He is the winningest coach in MIAA history and is a member of four Hall of Fames including the Missouri Western Athletics Hall of Fame, Missouri Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame and Valparaiso University Athletics Hall of Fame. In June 2013, he was inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame.
Past Missourian Award recipients include Walter Cronkite, George Washington Carver, Thomas Hart Benton, John Q. Hammons, Walt Disney, Harry Truman and Mark Twain.
And he’s back.
Retirement lasted just under five months for Hall of Fame Griffon Basketball Coach Tom Smith. He returned to coaching in late August to lead the women’s tennis team, taking over for Ron Selkirk. Smith coached tennis for three years at his alma mater, Valparaiso University, and led his team to a conference title one year. He was also named the Indiana Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year in 1966.
Smith is joined on staff by graduate assistant Raven Searcy, who played four years of tennis at Northwest Missouri State University. Smith led the team to a winning dual record in the fall. The spring season opens Feb. 21 in a match against Maryville University at the St. Joseph Tennis and Swim Club.