George Smith (1912-1996)
Teams coached: Cincinnati Bearcats
Cincinnati record: 154-56 (.733)
Overall record: 154-56 (.733)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 3 (1958, 1959, 1960)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 3 (1958, 1959, 1960)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 2 (1959, 1960)
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 2 (1955, 1957)
- Missouri Valley Regular Season Champion: 3 (1958, 1959, 1960)
Awards:
- Missouri Valley Coach of the Year: 2 (1958, 1959)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
1952-1960 | Cincinnati |
1948-1952 | Cincinnati (asst/frosh) |
George Smith Facts
- George Smith
- Born 1912
- Died January 14, 1996
- Hometown: Mount Vernon, Ohio
- Alma Mater: University of Cincinnati (BA, 1935)
- Played four years of football at Cincinnati, lining up as a tackle for the Bearcats
- Returned to UC in 1948 to be an assistant football coach but was asked to also coach the freshmen basketball team
- Would also become an assistant under head varsity coach John Wiethe
- Promoted to head basketball coach in 1952, leading the Bearcats for the next eight seasons
- Went 154-56 overall, claimed three Missouri Valley titles and reached two NCAA Final Fours
- Best remembered for recruiting and coaching Hall of Famer and consensus NPOY Oscar Robertson
- Stepped away from coaching in 1960 to become the athletic director at Cincinnati
- His former assistant, Ed Jucker, replaced him and led the Bearcats to two National Championships and one national runner-up in his first three seasons at the helm (UC went to five straight Final Fours)
- Took over as Assistant VP of Development for the University in 1973 and retired in 1980
- Inducted into the UC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978
- Died of cancer in 1996 at the age of 83; survived by his wife, Helen
- The University named the George and Helen Smith Athletics Museum in their honor in 2006
George Smith Coaching Tree
- Tay Baker (Xavier, Cincinnati)
- Ed Jucker (Rollins, Cincinnati Royals, Cincinnati)
- Chuck Machock (UCF, Steubenville)