Arroyo Valley's Scott Smith Is Underappreciated
Scott Smith is one of the top prep basketball coaches in the Inland Empire ... but perhaps the least-known, given his accommplishments.
If his current team can win in the CIF quarterfinals on Friday, he will have 11 20-victory teams in his 13-year coaching career, and seven CIF semifinalists. That's some serious winning.
Maybe Smith, 42, would have higher visibility had he won a CIF title. None of his teams has done that. And he's played for only one title, in 1998, when his Pacific Pirates lost to Glendora and Casey Jacobsen, 56-50, at Anaheim Arena.
Smith is in his sixth season at Arroyo Valley, and the Hawks play Valencia at 7:30 p.m. Friday for a place in the CIF Division II-A semis.
At Pacific, he had seven seasons of at least 20 victories, including five consecutive semifinal appearances, 1996-2000.
Yes, he had some good players (Bobby Burries, Chris Smith, Demond Huff, Ryan Nece, Michael Hall, Chaun Ballard, Donny Jury, Chris Adams), but he wasn't having transfers parachute in, like most of the elite teams in the Southern Section. Nor did he have kids from prominent club teams with big shoe connections.
And he coaches in a district that often struggles to get basic tasks accomplished.
Said Smith: "All the schools in the city have the same kids. The key is to get them to respect you, because if they do, they'll play hard for you.
"I'm very demanding in practice. It's not fun and games. I'm not their friend. I'm not their enemy, either."
He said a dependence on playing with whomever walks into the gym makes for some tough starts. "Every year we get a new team because I don't get recruits in. I start over every year. ... We haven't had a transfer in so long ...
"The reason we win at Arroyo and Pacific is, No. 1, we challenge the best teams year in and year out and don't worry about wins and losses and get better. No. 2, we prepare hard. No. 3, a league title is great, but our focus now is not making the playoffs but winning games in the playoffs."
Smith's teams have been good at that. By his accounting, his teams are 31-12 in the CIF playoffs.
This Arroyo Valley team is winning with guile, cohesion and quickness. The Hawks have 6-6 Joe Richard, who is the school's first D1 basketball recruit (Tulsa), but no other starter stands taller than 6-1.
Valencia, Friday's opponent, goes 6-6, 6-6, 6-6 across the front, Smith said.
If Arroyo Valley can win (and it beat a bigger team, Pasadena, last week), it already is guaranteed a home game Tuesday against the winner of the Colony-Serra game..
More about Scott Smith in Friday's editions of the newspapers.