The emotion was visible when Richard Smith talked about his basketball coach for the past two years. Bill Brown, as Smith noted, was somebody who always made sure the 6’9 tall senior was always on track.

According to Smith, Coach Brown taught him “everything from being on the court or off the court. He was definitely one of my favorite coaches as far as being there for me and just making sure I was always on the right page of doing my schoolwork, or working out, or just in being a better person. He taught me there’s no shortcuts in life and how to be prepared for the real world.”
Smith also said that it was because of Coach Brown that he is a better player now than he was before he came to Cal U. “I’m definitely better than I started. As far as it’s not just being offensive or defensively, I became more of a leader. I never have been a part of a team where I had to show my leadership or be more vocal. That was something new, but I grabbed it and got ahold of it. I definitely learned a lot,” Smith said proudly.

Smith said he was saddened, but happy, for his now former basketball coach. Also not going to be present for the Vulcan men’s basketball next semester is Khalil Jabbie, Josh Dombrosky, Nate Bellhy, and Smith, as the four are senior players. Jabbie, Dombrosky, and Smith are all anticipating a spring graduation this year, while Bellhy continues to work on his Master’s degree.
Smith said he had a good chemistry with his fellow seniors. “I definitely had a fun group of guys on the basketball team. They’re all pretty much like my brothers. Definitely guys that I can call after school and hangout with, or play a game of pickup basketball with, or talk about good times with.” He said his favorite teammate was Jabbie.

Smith played for the Vulcan’s for his junior and senior years after transferring from Lakeland Community College in Ohio. He was recruited by Coach Brown and said it was an easy decision to come to Cal U. “When I came down a couple of my teammates met me at the hotel and they showed me around campus. I liked it and I felt like it fit. They showed me a good time and made me feel comfortable. At the end of the day I just made my decision to come here. For my major it was the best thing as well,” he said.

Smith, a liberal arts major, said he enjoyed his two years playing for the Vulcans. “I think my first year was pretty good for coming in and not knowing how the PSAC works. Coming from a community, junior, college makes it a whole different league. It was all about the adjustment, playing with new players, and fitting in with the guys,” he said.
He said that even though the team didn’t make the playoffs in his two years at college, he ended up having a good experience. Even with the 7-21 record the men’s team posted this past season, Smith said he enjoyed all of his senior season. “It’s your last go-around. So you don’t want to pick just one moment from your last year in your college career to remember, so the whole ride was, whether we won or lost, was a fun experience and it was great to do it one last time. There was a lot of positives though.”

Among those experiences, Smith said he liked facing Indiana University of Pennsylvania the best. IUP was the game back on January 27 that was broadcast on ESPN3. “Win or lose, regardless, I love the competitiveness of when we play against a team like IUP. I always loved those games, whether I played good or not. I loved playing against them because they’re always like our rivals,” he said.

As for the ESPN cameras, Smith thought the experience was neat and something he had never done before. “It was pretty cool. That was my first experience like that. The outcome was obviously not what we wanted but it was definitely something fun to get a chance to do something like that,” he said.

Smith says basketball is still in his future. He comes from a basketball fanatic family, where his mom, dad, and grandfather played, so it’s in his blood. He said he will continue to work out and hopes his teammates will join him. He also said he wants to finish the semester off strong so he can earn his Bachelor’s degree.

As for basketball, Smith said he wants to play professionally. “I definitely plan on playing professionally after college. If not, I definitely want to get into coaching the high school level. That’s something I really like doing. But I definitely want to play pro basketball after school.”