Keith Smart: 3 things to know about the Arkansas basketball assistant coach, Indiana hero
Erik Hall
Keith Smart is a basketball legend in the state of Indiana for his shot in 1987. He's also had a long basketball career that crossed paths with many of the biggest legends in the sport.
Smart played for Bob Knight at Indiana, and one of his Hoosiers teammates was Steve Alford.
Smart has an extensive career as an assistant coach that includes coaching for Don Nelson and Erik Spoelstra.
Just some of the players Smart coached as an NBA head coach were Steph Curry, Carlos Boozer, DeMarcus Cousins, Jimmer Fredette, Jeremy Lin, and Isaiah Thomas.
And now, Smart is an assistant coach in Fayetteville.
Here's some basic information about Keith Smart:
- Full name: Jonathan Keith Smart
- Height: 6 feet, 1 inch
- Weight in college: 175 pounds
- Age: 57 years old
- Birthday: Sept. 21, 1964
- Hometown: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- High school: McKinley High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- College: Indiana University
- Wife: Carol Smart
Find out three more things to know about Arkansas Razorbacks assistant coach Keith Smart.
Keith Smart shot won Indiana the 1987 NCAA championship
Keith Smart took one dribble toward the left corner. He shot the ball fading out of bounds, and with four seconds left, Smart hit a shot to put the Indiana Hoosiers up 74-73 vs. Syracuse in the 1987 NCAA Tournament national championship game.
Syracuse never got a shot off in the final seconds, and Indiana won the national title.
Smart became a Hoosiers legend.
He finished with 21 points, six assists and five rebounds in the national title game on March 30, 1987, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Smart was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 1987 NCAA Tournament.
The 1986-87 season was Smart's first of two seasons at Indiana. He started his college career playing two seasons at Garden City (Kansas) Community College, where he earned All-American honors.
Keith Smart's NBA coaching career
Keith Smart coached in the NBA every season from 2000-20, except the 2013-14 season. Most of those years were as an assistant coach.
He had a 40-game stint as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2002-03 taking over for John Lucas. He coached the Golden State Warriors for the entire 2010-11 season, going 36-46 in Steph Curry's rookie season.
Smart guided the Sacramento Kings for the final 59 games in 2011-12 and the entire 2012-13 season. Sacramento went 48-93 with Smart as head coach during DeMarcus Cousins' first two NBA seasons.
Since leaving Sacramento, Smart had assistant coach stints with the Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies, and New York Knicks.
Smart initially arrived at Golden State as an assistant coach in 2003-04 to join head coach Eric Musselman's Warriors staff.
Keith Smart underwent cancer surgery in 2015
Keith Smart underwent a 15-hour surgery on Dec. 14, 2015, for skin cancer in his left cheek, and he had a skin graft from his left, according to ESPN. The type of skin cancer was Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans (DFSP).
"It starts from within," Smart said to the South Florida Sun Sentinel in January 2016. "So it's not something from the sun. It's internal. It starts from the inside first. And so by the time the little bump occurred on the outside, it had already manifested itself. There's no symptoms to it."
Smart was a Miami Heat assistant coach at the time. He took several weeks away from the team for cancer treatment at different stretches during the 2015-16 season.
"It's been an interesting ride," Smart told ESPN in April 2016. "I have a unique experience of understanding [cancer] now."
Here's more Keith Smart news:
- Keith Smart from 2017:Keith Smart headlines IU Athletics Hall of Fame class
- Keith Smart from 2016:Assistant coach Keith Smart battles cancer, returns to Miami Heat
- Keith Smart from 2012:Keith Smart gets another shot in Sacramento
Check out the Keith Smart bio on the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball website.
Erik Hall is the lead digital producer for sports with the USA Today Network. You can find him on Twitter @HallErik.