Smart faces mentor in men’s basketball’s exhibition against California (Pa.)

Jim Swing
Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times’ Sports Twitter

Bill Brown has witnessed Shaka Smart’s career blossom right in front of his eyes.

From player, to operations director, to assistant, to head coach, Smart is the product of a seed sowed by Brown in the early stages of the VCU men’s basketball coach’s career.

That seed was planted when Brown was coach of a Division III school in the middle of Ohio, and Smart was a young point guard attracting interest from the Ivy League’s prestigious Harvard and Yale.

Brown was recruiting Smart, and they had so much in common, he was able to lure him to little-known Kenyon College, where he would be a genius on and off the court.

“He was an extension of the coaching staff, had a high basketball IQ, he understood the game and had a knack for making his teammates better,” Brown said. “He was a player that had high goals and expectations, and you could tell that he was going to be successful regardless of whether it was sports or another venture of life.”

But once Smart’s freshman year was gone, so was Brown. He left to fill the head-coaching slot at California (Pa.), a Division II school in a small town about 35 miles outside of Pittsburgh.

The move was devastating for Smart. However, the two remained close friends.

“I think that we had a lot of things in common,” Brown said. “And throughout his college career we stayed in touch in the summertime, throughout the year, if there was issues, we talked.”

Prior to leaving Kenyon, Brown told Smart that if he ever wanted to pursue coaching, he had a job on his coaching staff.

“He knew I would continue to follow his career,” Brown said. “And I wanted him to know that if he ever had a notion to get involved in coaching that I’d have a spot and I’d give him an opportunity.”

So Smart took him up on that offer. Following his graduation from Kenyon in 1999, he joined Brown’s staff at California (Pa.) as an assistant, working on his master’s degree in the meantime. And from there, the bond continued to grow.

Smart moved into Brown’s home and lived there during his two-year stay at the university, where the pupil and mentor spent late hours of the night discussing life and basketball.

“He had an interest in learning. Like a sponge, he took everything in. and we spent a lot of hours and time talking about, not just basketball, but how you treat people and continuing to have high expectations and believing in yourself and being patient,” Brown said. “I think that when you look at him today, he has a little bit of a lot of people in him because he’s been in some different programs, and he’s also formulated his own philosophy, and not just for basketball, but for life in general.”

A decade later, Brown found himself sitting behind VCU’s bench at the Final Four.The seed that he once planted had blossomed right before his eyes. Smart had led his team on one of the most unforgettable runs in NCAA Tournament history, and it all reverted back to a principle the two shared.

“The philosophy we’ve always had is you can beat anybody one time,” Brown said. “Regardless of what their status is.”

On Thursday, the student will face the teacher when California (Pa.) visits VCU for an exhibition game. Smart will coach on the opposite end of a man who’s played a huge role in his life.

“Coach Brown is a father figure for me,” Smart said. “He’s a mentor.”

From their days together at Kenyon and California (Pa.), a decade later, their bond continues to grow.

“That relationship continued to build when he got into coaching. When he got his masters, he continued to move up the ladder,” Brown said. “It’s a relationship that we’re going to continue to make progress in.”