Peru State athletic director Steve Schneider recently announced the hiring of Scott Smith as the new Bobcat women’s head basketball coach.
Most recently, Smith was the coordinator for basketball operations at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) in Edinburg, Texas. He will officially begin his duties on July 17 at Peru State.
Schneider commented, “I am pleased to have Scott Smith coming aboard to lead our women’s basketball program. Scott has had many successful years of collegiate coaching at different levels which should lend itself well to building the Bobcat program. Peru State looks forward to Scott joining our program and I am confident his student-athletes will success in the classroom, on the court, and will adhere to the NAIA’s and College’s Champions of Character program.”
Smith comes to Peru State with 13 years of collegiate coaching and operational experience. The past two years, in his role as coordinator of operations for the NCAA DI program, Smith coordinated all team and staff travel for competition and recruiting purposes, assisted with scouting and game preparation, supervised the academic progress of the women’s basketball program, and maintained and controlled the operations and travel budgets. UTRGV posted a 19-14 record this past season which was the best winning percentage in school history.
Prior to working at UTRGV, Smith was an assistant coach for West Virginia State University, an NCAA Division II program, in Institute, W.V. During his second year at West Virginia State, the team won 19 games, the second-most wins in its program history. Smith served as the recruiting coordinator while assisting with scouting, scheduling, travel planning, event management, and pre- and post-season workouts.
For two years, Smith was an assistant coach at Stonehill College, another NCAA DII program, in Easton, Mass. At Stonehill, Smith was the recruiting coordinator and assisted with scouting, summer camps and tournaments, team academics, travel planning, and alumni/public relations.
Smith has another seven years of assistant coaching experience with stints at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass., and for Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C. While at Guilford, Smith also as served as the head men’s and women’s cross country coach.
In addition, Smith spent a combined six years as a high school coach at Holy Cross High School in Louisville, Ky., and Brazil, Ind. Two of his teams at Holy Cross were the Class “A” 6th Region Champions and in 2003, the team made the Class “A” Final Four.
Smith has numerous additional basketball related experiences and has been a member of the WBCA since 1996. This past year, Smith was a participant in the Coach to Coach Mentoring Program in the WBCA.
In 1995, Smith received his bachelor of science in education from Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Penn. Two years later, Smith earned his master of science in kinesiology from Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.
Smith is excited about the opportunity to become the 21st coach in Peru State women’s basketball history. He noted, “I would like to thank Dr. Hanson, Coach Schneider and the rest of the selection committee for giving me the opportunity to be a Bobcat. Throughout the interview process I felt like there was potential to do something special with the women’s basketball program. Peru State provides great academics, great facilities and the resources needed to compete in a very competitive conference. I look forward to getting to know and work with the young ladies in the program.”
The Bobcats went 7-22 last season and were 5-21 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Presently, there are nine returners and two recruits on the roster. Smith anticipates bringing in several players before the academic year starts.
http://pscbobcats.com/news/2017/7/3/scott-smith-hired-as-new-peru-state-womens-basketball-coach.aspx
Tagged with: Heart of America Athletic Conference NAIA Peru State
