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Monday, March 3, 2008
Pete Smith
Central Indiana, IN
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When I sat down with Guerin Catholic boys basketball coach Pete Smith to interview him for a feature story in our March 2008 issue, I got rocked a little bit.
After putting in nearly two days worth of extensive research, I had a pretty good idea about what I was going to talk to Smith about, but I also tend to let the interview dictate where the angle of the story will go.
So, I thought I would knock some general questions out of the way first – you know items that had been reported and known for awhile and just get a couple quick follow-up comments on them – like Smith resigning at the end of this season to take over his duties as program director of the Indiana All-Star game full time.
“You may want to stop that,” he said, smiling and pointing to my digital recorder. “We’re going to change that.”
Smith had, as we know now, a change of heart. He wasn’t going anywhere. And as the interview continued, it was clear how much he enjoyed coaching, how much he enjoyed Guerin and how those two things were meant to continue a little bit longer.
“I want to be here until my services are no longer needed,” Smith said after I had turned the recorder back on. “I just enjoy coaching these kids so much.”
It would be surprising if Guerin no longer needed his services anytime soon.
Not after Smith built the program from scratch when the Class 2A school opened four years ago.
Not after Guerin recently completed the best season in school history (the Golden Eagles finished 17-6, falling to a ranked Oak Hill team, 79-77, in Sectional 43 play).
Not after Guerin put up a school-record 105 points in a game this season.
You see, coaches like Smith don’t come around very often. He’s got John Calipari on speed dial (from their days spent working summer camps). He’s been a staple at Dean Smith and Roy Williams’ Carolina Basketball Camp. He was enshrined with Michael Jordan in the Five-Star Basketball Camp Hall of Fame last summer. He’s been named “IBCA Coach of the Year” and The South Bend Tribune’s “Teacher of the Year.”
It’s that last part where Smith has proved most valuable for his players at Guerin.
He’s not just a coach; he’s a teacher as well.
As he retold the story of the bus trip up to Notre Dame when the current seniors were freshmen, you could hear in Smith’s voice how important it was he made those players realize that they wouldn’t have an opportunity to play basketball if it weren’t at Guerin.
And I think that’s what struck me the most: A coach who was trying to help his players connect the dots and think beyond basketball. How was this new school benefiting the students in the long run? What would they have been doing if they weren’t on the bus with Smith and their teammates?
“It was so neat because they were all candid with each other,” Smith said of the experience. “There were no walls up.”
In a world where walls are pretty tough to break down, where getting through to players isn’t the easiest of tasks, it was neat for me personally to talk to a coach who wants to continue to foster that relationship with his players. Why leave something good?
For Pete Smith, the answer was pretty obvious: You don’t.
Sometimes, you never see the obvious – even if it’s the answer to your first question.
To read the story “The Architect” on Pete Smith and the rise of the Guerin boys basketball team, click here to view the March 2008 issue.
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