Ron Smith - Director of Basketball Operations - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Ron Smith

Title:
Director of Basketball Operations
Email:
Phone:
(515) 294-9342

Ron Smith, who spent eight seasons at Northern Iowa and has over 32 years of coaching experience at the high school and college level, is in his fourth season as director of basketball operations.

The Cyclones broke the school-record for 3-pointers in a season (236) and were ranked in the top-100 nationally in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense in his first three seasons in Ames.

Smith began his tenure at UNI as an assistant on former head coach Sam Weaver’s staff from 1998-2001. He stayed on at UNI when Greg McDermott was named head coach in 2001. He was an assistant coach in McDermott’s first four seasons and became director of basketball operations in McDermott’s final season in 2005-06. Smith enjoyed unprecedented success while at UNI, helping the Panthers earn three consecutive NCAA Tournament bids while compiling a 65-31 record from 2004-06.

In 2003-04, UNI earned its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990 after capturing the 2004 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title. David Gruber earned first-team all-MVC honors that season, as UNI took eventual Final Four participant Georgia Tech down to the wire in the first round NCAA Tournament game. The Panthers followed that season with a 21-11 record en route to their first ever at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. In Smith’s final season at UNI, the Panthers cracked the Associated Press Top 25 rankings for the first time in school history while tying a school record with 23 wins. The Panthers, who earned their third-straight NCAA bid, had two players earn first-team all-MVC honors.

Prior to his tenure at UNI, Smith spent four years as athletic director and head basketball coach for Alton Community Unit School District. The district was comprised of 19 schools and about 8,000 students. His responsibilities included coordinating all athletic activities for 20 different sports and over 100 teams. Prior to his arrival in Alton, the varsity basketball teams had only one winning season in the previous eight. Smith’s last team recorded its third consecutive winning record, setting a school mark for most wins in three consecutive years (63). The 1997 team advanced to the state tournament for the first time in 42 years, and only the third time in school history. His overall record at Alton was 74-40.

Before taking the Alton position, Smith spent nine years as an assistant at Southern Illinois and was part of a staff which turned one of the worst programs in the Missouri Valley Conference into one of the best. His last six years in Carbondale were highlighted by six consecutive postseason tournament appearances and four Valley titles (1990, 92, 93 and 94). The Salukis qualified for the NIT from 1989-92 and were NCAA Tournament participants in 1993 and 1994. Two of SIU’s star players while Smith was in Carbondale were future NBA players Ashraf Amaya and Chris Carr.

The Benton, Ill., native spent four years as an assistant basketball coach at Benton High School before accepting the SIU position, which included acting as academic advisor.

After graduating from Benton in 1972, Smith spent two years at Rend Lake College before transferring to Illinois State, from where he graduated in 1976. He earned his master’s degree in guidance and educational psychology from SIU in 1983. He joined Rich Herrin’s staff at Benton in 1981 after serving as head coach and athletic director at Coulterville High School for five years. While at Benton, the teams were 103-22 overall and Smith’s junior varsity teams posted an overall 43-6 record.

Smith has served as a sponsor for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapters at SIU and UNI. He was selected as an assistant coach for the 1998 Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Class AA South All-Star Game, and received several other honors in 1997, including IBCA District 19 Coach of the Year, Telegraph Newspaper Coach of the Year, Belleville News Democrat Coach of the Year and in 1996, received his first Telegraph Newspaper Coach of the Year honor.

He and his wife, Regina, have three children - Tim, Matt and Brooke.