HIGH ACHIEVERS: Dave Smart returns to head coaching with the University of the Pacific men’s basketball team

By Martin Cleary

Dave Smart has returned to his element and couldn’t be happier.

Canada’s most successful men’s university basketball head coach has regained that highly-respected title, but this time it’s for the first time in the United States.

After serving as the highly-acclaimed head coach of the Carleton University Ravens for 19 years over a 20-year period and stepping away from that role for the past five years, Smart was recently hired as the head coach of the University of the Pacific Tigers men’s basketball team.

Smart is extremely familiar with the NCAA men’s basketball scene, having taken a sabbatical from Carleton in 2015-16 to spend some time at Villanova University. And NCAA head coaches are familiar with his golden resume and coaching skill set.

His teams won 13 national titles and he earned another three as Carleton’s director of basketball operations. He also led his teams to 14 pre-season, summer wins over NCAA schools, which are part of his enviable, overall record of 656 wins and 101 losses (.867 winning percentage).

“No. 1, I wanted to be head coach again,” Smart said in an interview with ABC 10 TV in Stockton, California, which is the home of the Pacific Tigers. “I feel like they’re committed to men’s basketball and determined to make it special, sound and have sustained success. I’m excited about Pacific.”

Smart, 58, said in a University of the Pacific press release announcing his hiring that he is “thrilled with the opportunity to lead the Tigers into a new era.”

“Adam (director of athletics Tschuor) and president (Christopher) Callahan have an ambitious and exciting vision for the program and I thank them for entrusting me with the task of bringing that vision to life,” he added.

As head coach of Pacific, there’s only one way to go for Smart and that’s up in the West Coast Conference with notable schools like Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga and San Francisco.

Pacific had its worst season in the past decade in 2023-24, losing all 16 regular-season games in the WCC and posting a 6-26 overall record. The Tigers, who have only had one winning season in the past 10 years (23-10 overall, 11-5 conference in 2019-20) finished this season on a 17-game losing streak.

Smart, a fiery sideline coach who is highly regarded for his approach to offence and defence, is confident he can build a winning team at Pacific not only in the short term, but also in the long run.

“We’re trying to be in a position where we win every year for the next 10 years, not just next year,” Smart was quoted in a Pacific men’s basketball message on X (formerly Twitter).

Following his coaching philosophy of trust and hard work, Smart believes he can build a winning program that can challenge and bring more honours to the university. Pacific has won 13 conference titles since 1933 and participated in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament nine times, including its last appearance in 2013.

Smart made the jump to Pacific after spending only one season (2023-24) as an assistant coach with the Texas Tech University Red Raiders. He stepped away from his position as Carleton’s director of basketball operations (2019-20 to 2022-23) to join the Texas Tech coaching staff last year.

It appears Smart will lose five senior players and one grad student-athlete at Pacific, while hoping to maintain three juniors, one red-shirted junior, one sophomore, one red-shirted sophomore and two freshmen.

But Smart certainly knows how to start from scratch as a new university head coach. He did that at Carleton, when he replaced 16-year head coach Paul Armstrong for the 1999-2000 season. Smart served under Armstrong as an assistant coach for the three previous seasons, including his first year as the recruiting coach.

Armstrong’s final season was one of his best as the Ravens went 12-8 in the OUA regular season and 17-13 overall. But when Armstrong turned the team over, only six of the 16 players were on the roster for Smart’s first season.

But the determined Smart built a respectable team in his first season with players like Jafeth Maseruka, who became an OUA all-star that year and his nephew Rob Smart, Jr., as well as Paul Larmand and Josh Poirier, who would eventually turn professional. The Ravens had an 11-9 OUA regular-season record, but were 13-17 overall and lost their only East Division playoff game 70-45 to Laurentian University Voyageurs.

After his apprentice season, Smart immediately brought his team to the forefront with a 39-3 season in 2003-04. The Ravens were virtually unstoppable for his next 18 seasons.

Under Smart as head coach, the Ravens won their first national title in 2003 and added another 12 between then and 2019. He also produced eight undefeated OUA regular seasons and posted 17 30-plus win seasons, including two with 40 or more.

Smart’s leadership also has allowed him to win a record 10 U Sports national coach-of-the-year awards and an unmatched 11 OUA championships. During the past decade, he also has been part of the Canada Basketball national men’s and development coaching staffs. He has seen more than 15 graduating players reach the professional ranks, including Aaron Doornekamp, who is 38 and in his 15th year on the European circuit, as well as brothers Thomas and Phil Scrubb.

Despite leaving Texas Tech after “a tremendous experience” in his first and only season, Red Raiders’ head coach Grant McCasland had high praise for Smart.

“Dave Smart is one of the greatest coaches in all of basketball,” he said in the University of the Pacific press release. “Coach Smart’s ability to win speaks for itself, but his understanding of how to help people grow is what separates him.”

Former Villanova head coach Jay Wright agrees.

“Dave Smart is as bright as anyone I’ve met in our business. His defensive philosophy and techniques have been helpful to us. We always look for opportunities to learn from Dave,” he said.

Scott Morrison learned a lot about coaching from Smart during his 10 years at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.

“My greatest learning experiences were the times spent watching film preparing to match up with Dave Smart and the Carleton Ravens,” said Morrison, who is now an assistant coach with the NBA’s Utah Jazz. “His success as a coach is matched only by his knowledge and innovation on the court.”

Pacific director of athletics Adam Tschuor was overjoyed to have Smart as his men’s basketball head coach.

“He is one of the most respected basketball minds in the world and someone who will not only show his energy and enthusiasm on the sidelines, but in the community as well,” he said.

“As exciting as all of that is, I am most energized by the possibilities coach will bring to us from a recruiting standpoint. His connections worldwide are vast and will open pipelines to us not only unique to the history of Pacific Tigers’ basketball, but (also) to the college game as we know it.”