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1968 UA1F WKU Archives Vertical File - Greg Smith WKU Archives

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This News Article is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in WKU Archives Records by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Park City Daily News May 6, 1968

Courier Journal \ May lJ, l Ybtl '--'

Toppers' Smith SiO'll,.., S P act , With : Western's Greg Smith has 1 • TOPS' Smith signed a pro fessional baske tball , , contract with 1\'li!lI'aukcc of the Is Drafted By National As sociation, the team announced last ni ght. r,ABA Colonels Smith was one of tb~ top • rebounders in the Ohio Va lley · Western's Greg Smith and , Conference during his career University of Kentucky's Thad ; wi th the Hilltoppers, I ,J arncz have been drafted by the ILouisville Colonels of t b e :Am e rican B a ske t b a ll \, Assoc ~ tltlo n . · Smith has tlot signed with the Colonels, yet, however. Western's Wayne (bapmu 'had sigDed with the ColoDeli t.:::earlier.,. " _'_ ___ ~_ ':,

) COURIER-JOURNA L The Times Leader Online - Princeton, Kentucky wysi wyg:114Ihnp:/lwww,timeskader.... sfpublicl200407114!Qd48 _sports. hUn 1 August 20, 1970

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The E-News Soufce For Princeton & Caldwell County, Kentucky , ' 11 \ \ . '< ' ,

"A •D ' ]E. ( ...., . A',;. r'~ IE' J ; ' . G1'L-' • -.:. E; '- Wednesday, July 14, 2004 Princeton, Kentuc Pro cag'er Greg Smith finds Home Adsmore 66 I Visit Princeton's I News Crown J\!wcl! 'no real front' in V ietnmn ! I T16ERS! _. __ ..• J Sports Greg Smith. formerl,l' of \\'C'~l(']"n Ken­ I E·MAI1. THIS STORY I PRINT THIS STORY tucky Uni \' cr~il.\· . hut no"- .1 fhlll!"!' on the Mihl'3Uk,·c nlld;~' pro Iw..l~kclh IIdore, Forty years ago, Greg Smith played a crucial role in helping "W(' fl ew ('I'l'rywhel'(' ill hdi tnp l f'r~. Calendar W e wenl on'r mi(' placc ju'L 10 minult's Caldwell County win its only regional boys' basketball ~heout -13 min. h."kelh,111 pla~' ('r 5 we had been in most Al umni Team, which takes the floor at various high school courts u tes until it stopped."' or thl:' cities the.I ' were from and were for fundrai sing games. The contests are waged against high school . ilhl c to tnlk about their home cities With The higl;est scare of ni l. :lcconlinJ;: 10 t hem." alumni groups or various conmlUnity-generated teams with Smith, was "1I'11 ('n we llad tn la nd on the t op o i a mountain that har! been rockc\('d Df'~pite the ri~ks . Smi1h said he would proceeds fro m their games going to benefit a wide array of like 101 go b,lck a~"in becausc the men the ni.c: ht before. Just I:lnding on a moun· were ' , ' .. ,' b tain was bad enough." . . so aPl'rC'cla IV C. ou mll~,t ~ erazy charities and community organizations, Their play is termed 'Vhen enough men Co1ulrl be found . to \olunteer to come ol'er here, saId onc. "pseudo-Globetrotter," but the list of players joining Smith makes Smith ~Ild niordan scrinlln aged with the ' .. soldiers. for a formidable opponent. Joining him on the team arc former "We usually playd three on three, Kansas All-Ameri can Darnell Valentine, who had a 1O -year NBA althollgh sllllletimeSIl(, had enough pl~r' en f~r . a full ·scale p rn (' . .\I'lsH)" tholl gh. career; , former UK All -American; 65 -year-old Darrell we Vi sited wLlh t hc men Jild Iried to Imhoff, who played on a U.S. gold medal team in the Olympics and boost their morale. ,\s prOff! s' ;I~n,a~ j played five years in the NBA; and Leroy Ell is, Sf.

" We've raised about $2.2 million," noted Smith, son of Henry and Pearl Smith of Princeton, while in town recently to attend the 1964 Caldwell County High class reunion.

A tenacious reba under - he was credited with 34 rebounds in one game - he led the Tigers to the 2nd Region title, then went on to

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have a standout collegiate career at Western Kentucky University. He then went on to a seven-year NBA career. which incl uded Today Greg Smith is the regional and national sales manager for wiMing the NBA championship in 1971 as a starting 6-foot-5 Salem Communications, a Christian broadcasting company. His forward with the . wife. Linda, is a general sales manager in the radio business.

"tn the last five or six years the Blazers have adopted us (alumni "Our business is very high pressure - we're about an $1 1.5 team) into their system," he said. "They pick up our medical in the million radio market - and in our business you have to fight for event someone gets injured. We are all working and have careers, every dollar." so their insurance supplements ours." Sm ith has three rad io stations he se ll s for - one with a format that The fun and hijinks often involve Shale r Halimon, a first round is conservative talk show, another that is spiritually based draft pick of the 76ers in 1968. He tends to wear his pant~ pretty programming and another that is Chri stian-based contemporary high, so sometimes the rest of the team members pull th~l r pants mUSIC. up pretty high, too. The charity games often feature halftl~e auctions of donations, some of them past and prese nt Trai l Blazers Fami ly is important for him. team gear. • "I spoke to my church basketball group and told them we all need • •• • • a coach in our li fe . You have to define who that is - fo r me, it is my wife, Linda, who makes me do things I don't want to. She The Class of '64 holds a reunion every five years. That class was a makes me her champion. We take a coach for granted, but they arc special one in the school history - that was the first year of so important. integration in Caldwell County, and Smith and his black. . classmates from Princeton Dotson left that school fo r thei r senior "And there is my mom and dad, who have made a different in the year to attend Caldwell County High. way we look at things. I remember my dad saying, ' You don't read, you don't read .... But Greg said that years ago he heeded hi s dad's Across the country this year newspapers have recounted events advice and "really got into it." that resulted from the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education suit which integrated schools. The process could not have gone any • •••• smoother anywhere than it did in Caldwell County. While visiting in Princeton, Greg Smith was reading fon11 er Smith be lieves that relationships which al ready existed played a teammate 's book, "The Big 0." role in the harmony that existed here during that time period. "Oscar would have been a great (NBA) commissioner because of "It goes back to my dad's generation of friends - those were hi s ideology and purity of the game and (understanding of) how the people who had played together. There was no TV and pressures game should be played whi le recognizing each player's ski ll s," that created controversy." Smith observed. "In the book Oscar talks about our championship years and tells some things that I wasn't aware of. I am seeing and Also, he credited the leadership in the school with mak ing a reading things that he was privy to that we weren't," he said of the difference. "Dotson taught us to be better and to follow a 197 1 Milwaukee Bucks championship squad. curriculum. You always need a leader. Coach Giordano and Coach Clayton had a system. Caldwell County got good athletes (from • •••• Dotson), but we had to buy into the system." The current state of affairs in the NBA is bei ng lamented by many Smith recall ed that he wanted to play football , and was allowed to nationwide, and Smith shares that sentiment. play enough "just to get my uniform dirty." He said the basketball "I think it 's about like the prisoners running the prison. People coach , George Perry, agreed fo r him to play football. , but. one. of Perry's stipulations was that Smith would not get 10 a sttuallon have given way to spoiled athletes." where he could get injured and hinder hi s basketball career. Smith said that mixed signals are being sent when an average ••••• person is arrested for violating the law and punished, then a hi gh-profile athlete is arrested for the same offense and doesn't suffer any consequences. "You are compromising the system that

7/ 16/04 8: 47 "~1 30r4 7116/04 8:47 AM The Times Leader Online - Princeton, Kentucky http://www.limesleader.net!arti c leslsto ri eslpu b I ic/200S0411 2 104 L w... mes Leader Online· Princeton, Kentucky wysiwyS:l14Ihnp:llwww.timesleader .... slpublicl200401114/0d4S_Sporu.htrnJ

works so well ," he said. " People have to be held accountable." THE He also is among those who believe the practice of dra ft ing players LEADER straight out of high school into the NBA is not a wise practice . . " Players are coming out so young - they don' t get an education. The E· Ne'Ns Source For Princeton & Ca ld'Nell Coun ty. Kentucky They don't read the newspaper past the sports section. Some guys ONLINE don' t know how to catch a plane or out an application because fi ll Saturday, April 12, 2008 Princeton, Ke nt ucky everything has been done for them.

Home " When they are drafted, they are taken out of the area they grew up '. in and the neighborhood they grew up in and they have a hard ti me Hudson - News adjusting. College is the middle ground where they assimi late and meet some differe nt people. Obituaries

Sports E·MAll THI S STORY I PRI NT TH IS STORY "But they are offered millions of dollars - a great deal of money. Now the people they associate with don't have that. The people Classifieds they want to hang out with are at work, so who are they go ing to Abdul-Jabbar's praise of WKU includes hang wi th, what are they going to do? They can practice, watch Archives Smiths film and hang out with the other guys. But the veterans have Wea ther families, so the young player has nothing to do. That is a gray area the NBA doesn' t understand Subscribe Times Leader Staff Report [email protected] Contact "The assimilation fo r young athletes is critical. The next thing (the NBA does) is throw money at it - get a program, get a coun selor. Ameri can Saturday , April 12, 2008 It 's a very difficult si tuation; sometimes the parents move out Profi le The accolades for Westem Kentucky University's basketball where the player in pl aying." Kentucky New program keep pouring in. Era Smi th said the blame extends past j ust the league itself. "The The Hilltoppers' run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament owners have allowed themselves to become so infatuated with and Ty Rogers' buzzer-beater agai nst Drake have reinvigoratcd what a coach or says, not knowing what chemistry one of the most storied programs in the history of college a player bri ngs to the club. You need a sense of balance to every basketball. club." Now, one ofthc best basketball players evcr is singing [he praises As an example, he says that in this year's NBA championship ofWKU. series many make the claim that the Lakers "blew up." But he said all the Lakers' energies were directed at the ir disruptions. He cited Writing in hi s blog at the Los Angeles Times website, Karccm programs where key players embraced the system of the coach, Abdul-Jabbar gives Westem Kcntucky high marks, not just for its result ing in success - such as embracing Jack recent success but for its efTorts in integrating co llege basketball 40 years ago. He al so recalls a pa ir offomler Princeton standouts Ramsey's program; Larry Byrd embracing the program at Boston, - Dwight and Greg Smith. Akeem Olajuwan embrac ing 's program at Houston, and and doing the same at Abdu l-labbar was a teammate of Greg's on the Milwau kee Bucks' San Antonio. But as recently pointed out with NBA champi onship sq uad. Thc form er Lew Alcindor is probably L \, lbe Bryant was calling the shots and directing team policy. bestlmown for his college days at UCLA and his pro run with the .

Abdul-labbar gave WKU 11I gh marks "because Western Kentucky ~ I SQQ!U. I Features t Columns I ~ I Obituaries did an exceptional job in speeding up the integration of college Classlfieds I Archives I calendar I Weather I Subscribe I Contact Us basketball and hasn't been given a lot of credit fo r it. Although I'm a Bruin in hcart and soul, I was rather tom while watching this game. Western Kentucky is my oldest son, Karecm Jr.'s, alma

I of 2 4/ 14/20089:23 AM

1116104 8:47 t\~,t .,... I • . • • • TO • imcs Leader Online - Princeton, Kenlucky hltp ://www.timesleader.netlarti c Ic slstorieslpubl ic/200804/ 12 104 L w .. . The Park City Daily News Soptember 30, 1970 mater.

"Another connection I have to WKU is alumni Greg Smith, who was my teammate on the Milwaukee Bucks fo r two years and the (- • starting forward on ou r 1970-71 World Championship team. Greg was al so a really good friend and my buddy on road tri ps, where we got 10 indul ge our movie addiction.

"But my feelings for Westcrn Kentucky go back even further," Abdul-Jabbar added. "Western Kentucky was the forefront of the fi ght to in tegrate in the I 960s and early '70s. While head coach at WKU, Coach John Oldham (who took over .. i-' ...-: ;-' for previous head coach E.A. Diddl e in 1964) dealt with some f ~" ~'e:- l- very ugly situations whi le the transiti on took place, and he has nOI been recognized fo r hi s courageous stand. et;;,,:}' (?J) "For hi s part, Coach Diddle had recruited Clem Hask ins and Dwight Sm ith in 1963. Coach Oldham continued that legacy. .. __.. recruiting blac k players and eventually starting fi ve African .&~(\ :--- .;t.,~ Americans on the WK U team - and sta yi ng the course in spite of @( y F·- ->i"," ~ cri ticism fro m some of the fan s and faculty. Along the way, he coached his team to four NCAA appearances and probably would have made itto the finals in 1966 if a very controversial call rc- ~v hadn't cost them ... in the NCAA Tournament. In 1967, Clem Haskins broke hi s wri st, wh ich kept WK U fro m being at full d'~> strength for the season. r-" -. j., "Nonetheless, college peeps owe WKU a tip of the hat for the positive changes it helped to promote." \' -j tI- --! "'---~-t 'I . t::::.. " --- I ;" -'""' -" '-' T?d. t \~

l -1-\ . ~ ___....>. " . _ __~~_~ ___ ..... NlIA EX III BITIO:\' -: For.mer Wt' ~l ern Kcnlllrky Greg Smllh is due 10 see IICtHll111"Ith Ihc ~hl1l"aukce Bucks in an ,\"11 /\ exhibition game aga inst the Hawks Saturday, Oct. 10, at MUllicipal Auditorium in ,\"a shville. Le lV Alcindor is one or th e Mil waukte acts. wh ile LSU's Pete Maral·ieh will perform with the lIawlls. Tickets ror the j;JO p.m. game are priced ~t SJ.50. H and U and may be purchased loca lly at the Sjlorts Ce nter, 926 Stale St,

4/ 14/20089:23 AM • -.- PAR K C1TY DAILY NEWS COURl i::R-JOl"R."AL Januar y 14, 1972 Decembe r 10 , 1971

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Is A Winner! " rl -: p. Ex-Topper G. Smith In, Solid At Houston, : By HER Bo nno ,, 'E "It is not jus t COlllcidentai that I " In his first 14 g ames .~ f ...· hi ch Daii)' S to WI Spurts Ed il Of the Rockets had a &-28 record th e Rockets ...· 00 nme . Smith Remember Greg Smnh. the when Smith aTrJved and then ·... · 00 a\·eragl.'d 10.6 p::lIllU a game . a.~ d .eaping Negro ali-Nurt star .... ho sewn of thl.'i r first ei ght games ga,€, real leadership to a yoUng played for Western Just a few \\'It h the forward On their side. team ~ 1 years ago , "Smith brought .... tth him a "uss than a week aner the Well . as you m a ~ recall he did wll'lmng ~Plrtt It can be seen as trade. the Roc kets visited l very sound all·around jOb •... Ith he tenses every muscle awallmg :'tlll ..... aukee. Mil waukee for lie,eral years -I the open mg tlp-oif. "Bucks ians ho noreO Sm ith. an and then ,was traded to Hous ton " It can bt> s(>('n as he recklessly ortglllai acquISi tion of the 1969 eather thIS seasop . hurls hiS body after e\'ery loose €':- seen as he leaps over to mld

l GREG S:\! ITH. abo\€'. former r W estern Kentucky star. was traded by the M l!· ... aukee Bucks yesterday to the Hou5ton Rockets for foN'a~d Curt!S P ~ rry ar,d H o\t~'e n's :"oi() •• J 19i2 d rait pick. . " ,.. - ..

\ " to . ,.'!""".

Grel!: Smith Basketball 1965-68

the G r eg S m ith was an important component o n some of the :; conference ) most successful H il ltopper basketball teams ever. T he 1 his Western th ree-year letter winner twice earned All -OVe honors 1d is one of ) (1966 & '67) wh il e leading the squads to a pai r of NCAA ,ur a thle tes in tournament appearances. Western learns accumulated 66 n's years 34 wi ns in 79 games ) Ve member during those two A II -Confer­ seasons while Smith ;cognition posted fi ve 20-plus !mes. He was rebounding outings her of and averaged 11.8 n's first-ever rebounds per game for hampionship his career (6th best in II squad and WKU record books). in the The 6-5 fo rward