Morrisville State men’s basketball coach Joseph Smith of Sherrill was named D3hoops.com East Coach of the Year.
By Brandy Thurston
(Morrisville, NY – March 2013) D3hoops.com announced its 2012-13 All-Region teams recently, naming Morrisville State College men’s basketball head coach Joseph Smith, the East Region Coach of the Year.
Smith guided the team to back-to-back North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Championship regular season and tournament titles, and two straight appearances in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
The 2011-12 NCAA bid was the first ever in the history of Morrisville State College.
To-date on the season, the Mustangs have posted a 23-5 overall record under Smith’s direction, and continue their historical run in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the “Sweet 16” this Saturday against St. Mary’s College (Maryland), ranked #11 by D3hoops.com. Along the way, Morrisville State has upended two nationally ranked teams, #15 Ramapo and #13 Rhode Island.
In four seasons at the helm of the program, Smith has posted a 61-44 overall record, including a 42-13 record the past two seasons, along with a 2-1 NCAA tournament record.
The Sherrill native was the 2011-12 NEAC Coach of the Year.
A 2004 graduate of Hamilton College where he was instrumental in leading the team to several post-season tournament appearances, including the ECAC Tournament in 2001, the UCAA semi-finals in 2002, the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 round in 2003 and the NCAA Tournament in 2004. As a senior, Smith averaged 21.0 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game, starting all 27 games for Hamilton, and was named the Liberty League Player of the Year and Division III New York State Player of the Year in 2004, while garnering All-American honors.
During his time at Hamilton, the team went 66-31 overall. Smith holds the third spot in the Continentals record book for career blocks with 120, and is 14th in career scoring with 1,333 points.
Following graduation from Hamilton, Smith played professionally for the BK Amager in Copenhagen, Denmark until 2009, where the team appeared in the playoff’s four times, including a 2007 run to the semi-final round. While with the BK Amager, Smith was a four-time Danish League All-Star and also assisted in all aspects of coaching during his time in Denmark.
