# John Smith (basketball, born 1969)

John David Smith (born March 12, 1969) is an American college basketball coach who is the special assistant to the head coach at the University of Washington. He previously served as the head coach of the Cal Poly Mustangs men's basketball team.

## Playing career

A standout at John W. North High School, Smith originally began his college basketball career at UNLV under Jerry Tarkanian, who coached Smith's father, Fred "Lucky" Smith, while he was the head coach at Riverside City College. Smith would finish his playing career at Dominican where he played for his brother Steve, and was a NAIA All-California honorable mention and all-conference selection. Smith graduated from Dominican in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

## Coaching career

Smith's coaching career included stops at the College of Southern Idaho and Chaffey College as well as the high school ranks at his alma mater J.W. North, and Valley View High School as an assistant coach. In 2000, Smith was hired was the head coach and assistant athletic director at San Bernardino Valley College. He would guide the team to an 88–40 record in four seasons, including a Foothill Conference championship during the 2002–03 season. In 2004, Smith accepted the head coaching position at Riverside City College where he went 196–87 with four conference championships including the 2009 California State Championship, the school's first in 43 years since when Jerry Tarkanian was coaching.
Smith accepted the position of assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton under Dedrique Taylor in 2013. He would stay on staff for six seasons and was part of the Titans' Big West Conference tournament-winning squad and 2018 NCAA tournament appearance.
On March 28, 2019, Smith was named the head coach at Cal Poly, replacing Joe Callero.

## Personal life

Smith's son Jamal currently plays for Cal State Fullerton, while his daughter Kianna plays basketball at Louisville. His father "Lucky" also played college basketball at Utah State and Hawaii, and was a sixth round selection of the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1968 NBA draft.

## Head coaching record

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| San Bernardino Valley College Wolverines (Foothills) (2000–2004) ||||||
| 2000-01 | San Bernardino Valley College | | | | |
| 2001-02 | San Bernardino Valley College | | | | |
| 2002-03 | San Bernardino Valley College | | | 1st | CCCAA State Tournament Semifinals |
| 2003-04 | San Bernardino Valley College | | | | |
| San Bernardino Valley College: | San Bernardino Valley College: | 88–40 (.688) | | | |
| Riverside City College Tigers (Orange Empire) (2004–2013) ||||||
| 2004-05 | Riverside City College | | | 1st | |
| 2005-06 | Riverside City College | | | | |
| 2006-07 | Riverside City College | | | 1st | |
| 2007-08 | Riverside City College | | | | |
| 2008-09 | Riverside City College | | | | CCCAA State Championship |
| 2009-10 | Riverside City College | | | 1st | |
| 2010-11 | Riverside City College | | | 1st | |
| 2011-12 | Riverside City College | | | | |
| 2012-13 | Riverside City College | 19-9 | 9-3 | | |
| Riverside City College: | Riverside City College: | 196–87 (.693) | | | |
| Cal Poly Mustangs (Big West) (2019–2024) ||||||
| 2019–20 | Cal Poly | 7–23 | 4–12 | 9th | |
| 2020–21 | Cal Poly | 4–20 | 1–15 | 10th | |
| 2021–22 | Cal Poly | 7–21 | 2–12 | T–9th | |
| 2022–23 | Cal Poly | 8–25 | 1–17 | 11th | |
| 2023–24 | Cal Poly | 4–28 | 0–20 | 11th | |
| Cal Poly: | Cal Poly: | 30–117 (.204) | 8–76 (.095) | | |
| Total: | Total: | 30–117 (.204) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||