Smiley Primed to Lead UNC After Learning from Coaching Greats
Four years ago, the Northern Colorado men’s basketball program was facing one of its toughest times since joining the NCAA Division I ranks a decade earlier. The program was near the bottom of the Big Sky standings, about to suffer strict NCAA sanctions for recent violations, and had just terminated the contract of head coach B.J. Hill and his entire staff.
Enter newly appointed head coach Jeff Linder, who helped guide Boise State to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances as associate head coach and one who recruited future NBA superstar Damian Lillard to Weber State. Along with him is new associate head coach Steve Smiley, who is coming off a two-year stint as a Weber State assistant coach under four-time Big Sky Coach of the Year Randy Rahe.
“When we all came out here with Coach Linder it was a leap of faith because we were all in good situations with our previous jobs,” Smiley said. “The investigation and the sanctions, all of that was just getting started. Our administration did a really good job in keeping our entire staff updated on what was going on. With that in mind, we felt like taking this with a big picture. We have time to get this solved and we’re not going to cut corners.”
Shortly after being hired Linder, Smiley and the rest of the UNC athletic department staff met to discuss the current state of the men’s basketball program. Athletic director Darren Dunn, two and a half years into his stint, addressed his staff saying the road to rebuilding the program would take time.
Linder and Smiley had other plans.
“I’ll never forget our first all-staff meeting with Darren Dunn,” Smiley said. “I remember Darren saying this might take multiple years to get it back on its feet. I looked at Jeff at the time and he had his little smirk on his face and so did I. I think the competitor in all of us said that’s not going to happen. We’re going to turn this thing around quickly.”
And that they did.
It was no surprise the first season under Linder was a bit bumpy but the Bears managed an 11-18 record in a season where they were ineligible for the Big Sky Championship and postseason competition.
“The first year we had the postseason ban, which we knew going in. It was a tough year,” Smiley said. “We won 11 games that year which actually exceeded our expectations. We finished the year with six or seven scholarship guys and had a bunch of guys sitting out. And we had a bunch of scholarship reductions because of the sanctions.”
Year two was a different story, and the beginning of a memorable run that is still building and turning heads throughout the Big Sky Conference.
Looking to continue to strengthen the Northern Colorado program and reach the NCAA Tournament is Smiley, who was named head coach on March 20 after Linder’s departure to the University of Wyoming.
Entering his first campaign as head coach, Smiley explained his path to success is very similar to his predecessor and good friend.
“Going back to Coach Linder, his vision and my vision in terms of what good basketball is and what’s really important is all the same,” Smiley said. “We have a lot of guys back that played as freshmen two years ago and sophomores this year. Now those kids can be the upperclassmen. In terms of the age of our roster the next two years are going to be a couple of the oldest rosters that we’ve had since we came on board so we’re really excited about that.”
In 2018, Northern Colorado showed vast improvement en route to achieving several milestones behind the play of upperclassmen Andre Spight and Jordan Davis.
After dropping a 91-89 overtime heartbreaker to eventual Big Sky champion Montana in the tournament semifinals, the Bears posted four-straight victories to capture the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament title and achieve a school-record 26 wins.
The last two years included clinching the No. 2 seed in the Big Sky Championship and tallying two additional 20-win campaigns in Greeley.
“To go into year two and win those 26 games and the CIT Championship and break the school wins record was truly remarkable,” Smiley said. “But I think even more so to sustain that success in the next two years and keep that going.”
A season cut short this season due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Bears like many other teams ask, what could have been?
Northern Colorado now turns its attention to the 2020-21 season and a new era under Smiley, a Colorado native who has seen success at every stop he’s been during his 16-year coaching career.
From nearby Arvada, Smiley played prep ball for his father Tim at Pomona High School where he was a two-time all-state player and led the state in assists as a junior.
His next five years in the small South Dakota town of Aberdeen just 30 minutes south of the North Dakota border would be what would shape him for a successful coaching career.
Prior to the 1999-2000 season Northern State University, a NCAA Division II member, was looking for new leadership for the men’s basketball program as former coach Bob Olson had been named athletic director for the Wolves.
Smiley was bound for NSU in the fall, a program that had claimed the last five Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) titles under Olson.
“I wanted to get out of state at that time. I was a pretty good high school player and I was that guy that had good Division II opportunities,” Smiley said. “The first out of state school that I was interested in that was really successful was Northern State. They had won championships for years and years and they flew me out over Thanksgiving for an official visit. Walking into that 8,000-seat arena, you could feel the energy there. It’s a small town that’s built around Northern and athletics and really men’s basketball.”
Not only choosing one of the top NCAA Division II schools, Smiley was about to play for one of the all-time greatest college basketball coaches. One that would forever change his life and shape him for a successful coaching career.
A Midwest native and Northern Colorado alum, Don Meyer was among the list of candidates for the Northern State job and ultimately the right pick for the Wolves. Meyer had recently led Lipscomb University to 13 NAIA national tournaments and a 665-179 record in 24 seasons in Nashville, Tenn.
“I got really lucky that the guy they hired was one of the best college basketball coaches in history,” Smiley said. “I didn’t know what I was walking into at the time but I was walking into one of the greatest situations you could ever ask for.”
After redshirting the 1999-2000 season, Smiley was a three-year starter for Meyer and led the Northern Sun in assists for three seasons, totaling 537 in his career to finish second in the NSU record books. As a senior, he was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year and helped the Wolves to the NCAA Division II Tournament with a 24-7 record.
“The lessons that he taught me as an 18- to 22-year-old player were life changing,” Smiley said. “He was a very tough coach. He loved his kids and it was important to him in every way but he was a tough coach. You had to be a tough player to make it through.”
Shortly after graduating from Northern State in 2004, Smiley embarked on a master’s degree from Texas A&M International before beginning to write
Playing for Coach Meyer.
“At that time no one had written a book on him,” Smiley said. “I knew what his impact was in the college basketball world. I could see that in terms of the Don Meyer Coaching Academy, having 500 to 1,000 coaches from all over the country descend on Aberdeen, South Dakota. But the typical person had no idea who he was. I wanted to give back and kind of tell his story through my lens. One of the things I wanted in that book was to hear the stories of all of his other former players, not just at Northern but also at Lipscomb University and even before.”
Meyer would continue to mold Smiley in the years to come as he returned to Aberdeen to become Meyer’s assistant coach from 2006-08, helping the Wolves to a 50-12 record in his two seasons at his alma mater.
Meyer, who passed away from cancer in 2014, concluded his 38-year head coaching career as the winningest NCAA men’s basketball coach in 2010 with 923 victories.
“As a coach I was able to see a different side working alongside of him. I was able to get the full spectrum of Coach Meyer,” Smiley said. “He spent a lot of time with our players in terms of planning and preparing, and not just for basketball but for life - your weekly and monthly schedule, your academics, having goals and having vision.”
Taking Meyer’s teachings with him, Smiley’s first head coaching stint began at national junior college powerhouse Sheridan College in Sheridan, Wyoming, in 2008. In six seasons, Smiley guided the Generals to four NJCAA Region 9 Final Four appearances and a 153-43 record.
Six years later, Smiley begins his second head coaching stint looking to not only leave his mark on the Big Sky Conference but prepare his student-athletes for life beyond the game of basketball as his college coach did.
“As a player and as an assistant coach, seven years of my life were with Coach Meyer,” Smiley said. “The notebooks we had as players, those are still sitting in my office now. I look at that all the time, whether it’s the quotes or the philosophy. Those are the things that drive you on an individual level and as a team. At the end of the day basketball is going to end one day for these guys, even if they play in the pros for 10 years. The lessons of how to apply it all to your overall life, your family and your job, I took a lot from Coach Meyer in that way.”