FLINT – After 21 seasons, Keith Smith was thinking about calling it quits as Hamady’s girls basketball coach.
He had achieved everything a high school coach could.
Then he got an email from Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan telling Smith they were going to honor him at their annual banquet for passing the 400-victory mark.
That made Smith reconsider his decision to retire.
“It’s an incentive to keep coaching,” said Smith, 51. “I was almost ready to step down but when they sent me the email, I said ‘I might be able to keep going and see if I can make it to 500.’
“I’ve got some young talent in the middle school program and I’ve got some pretty good freshmen. Between the two it gives me some pretty good incentive to keep pushing.”
Smith got the itch to become a coach when he would return home in the summer from Concordia College.
He began helping out at Brownell Elementary, which he attended as a youngers, and then his former high school coach Stan Gooch got him a job at Flint Central.
From there, he moved on to Northern to become Lateia Hughley’s assistant coach before becoming Hamady’s head coach in 2001.
At Hamady, he’s compiled a record of 408-72 to rank 12th among all active girls basketball coaches in Michigan. That’s the third-most victories in Flint-are history behind Kathy McGee of Powers Catholic (599-153) and Jason Gray of Goodrich (434-84).
The highlights of Smith’s career were the back-to-back state championships Hamady won in 2009 and 2010. He also led the Hawks to the championship game in 2015 and 2019.
Smith said his most memorable moment came in the 2010 Class C state championship game, when Hamady beat St. Ignace 68-66 in double overtime.
“That was something to remember,” he said. “That’s a pretty good team. We both were two teams that liked to get up and down the floor. We both were two good defensive teams.
“It was tough to score but each team had some runs periodically throughout the game offensively.”
Smith will receive his Century Club Award from the BCAM Sunday, Oct. 2 at the annual banquet at the Auburn Hills Marriott Pontiac Hotel, 3600 Centerpoint Parkway, Pontiac.
The hospitality hour begins at 2 p.m. with a cash bar and the banquet will start at 3 p.m.
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