Dave Smart (born 1966) is a Canadian former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

from 1999 to 2019, where he led the Ravens to thirteen of the team's fifteen overall

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

in men's basketball. Smart is currently the Director of Basketball Operations at Carleton, and serves as a consultant to the coaching staff at the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. Smart has also served as an assistant coach with the Canadian men's national team on multiple occasions, working with former NBA player

Leo Rautins Leo Rytis Rautins (born March 20, 1960) is a Canadian broadcaster, former professional basketball player and the former head coach of the Canada men's national basketball team, Canadian men's national basketball team. Rautins played in the Nationa ...

, and

Jay Triano A jay is a member of a number of species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in w ...

University playing career

Smart grew up in Kingston and

, and attended Queen's University. He graduated from Queen's with a degree in

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

, and played three seasons of varsity basketball for the

Queen's Golden Gaels The Queen's Gaels (also known as the Queen's Golden Gaels) is the Athletics program representing Queen's University at Kingston in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Team colours are blue, red, and gold. The main athletics facilities include Richardson Me ...

, from 1991-92 to 1993-94. He set the all-time school record for highest points per game career average (26.6). Smart also set the highest single-game Queen's scoring mark (43 points). His career average is one of the highest ever recorded in Canadian university basketball. In the 1992-93 season, Smart became the only Queen's player ever to lead Canada in scoring average, with an average of 29.4 points per game.http://www.cisport.ca, the men's basketball records section He was selected a first team

Ontario University Athletics Ontario University Athletics (OUA; french: Sports universitaires de l'Ontario) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providin ...

All-Star in all three of his Queen's seasons.http://www.oua.ca, the men's basketball records section Smart coached extensively at the high school and club levels, before attending university, and again as a university student, including Nepean High School where he coached the team to a city championship and a berth at

OFSAA The Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) is an organization of student-athletes, teacher-coaches, student-coaches, teachers, principals, and sport administrators in Ontario, Canada. OFSAA is the second largest high school ath ...

Coaching career

Rejected for the vacant Queen's men's basketball head coaching job following the 1994 season, Smart was hired as an assistant coach for men's basketball by Carleton in 1997, under head coach Paul Armstrong, and served for two years in that role. Smart became the head coach at Carleton in 1999, when Armstrong was promoted into management.

Thirteen Canadian University Basketball Championships as Carleton Ravens head coach

Smart led the

Carleton Ravens The Carleton Ravens are the athletic teams that represent Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. The most notable sports team for Carleton is the men's basketball team. In men's basketball, the Ravens have won 16 of the last 19 national men's ...

to five consecutive

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Can ...

national championships in men's basketball, from 2003 to 2007 inclusive. These were the first CIS championships won by Carleton in any sport. The Ravens' five-year championship streak was broken in 2008 when they were upset 82-80 in double overtime in the CIS semifinals by the

Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some graduate programs at the master's level and one at the doctoral level. The enabling legislation consists of the Acadia ...

Axemen; the Ravens, seeded first, had been 32-0 in that season against Canadian teams. Carleton also won the 2009 CIS basketball championship, the school's sixth, hosted at

Scotiabank Place Canadian Tire Centre (french: links=no, Centre Canadian Tire) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located in the western suburb of Stittsville. It opened in January 1996 as the Palladium and was also known as Corel Cen ...

in Ottawa, making the Ravens 19-1 in CIS Final Eight play since 2003. Carleton lost in the 2010 CIS semifinals to eventual champions Saskatchewan Huskies; this tournament was also hosted at Scotiabank Place. The CIS Men's Basketball Championships returned to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

in 2011, after three years at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, and Smart and the Carleton Ravens captured their seventh CIS National Championship in nine years with a victory over

Trinity Western University Trinity Western University (TWU) is a Private university, private Christian liberal arts university with campuses in both Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley and Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia. The sch ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

.Ravens beat Trinity Western: CIS Men's Basketball Final
Smart and the Carleton Ravens captured their eighth CIS National Championship, defeating the

University of Alberta Golden Bears The Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas are the sports teams that represent the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Alberta athletics teams have won a total of 93 national championships, including 79 U Sports sanctioned sports, making ...

in the 2012 edition of the championship tournament. The CIS National Men's Basketball Championships returned to ScotiaBank Place in Ottawa in 2013, and Smart's Carleton Ravens won their ninth title, defeating

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, grad ...

, 92-42. The Ravens set Canadian university basketball records for largest winning margin (50 points) and fewest points allowed (42 points) in a championship final, and broke the tie with the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

for the most total championships won in Canadian men's university basketball.Carleton Ravens rewrite the definition of excellence with ninth CIS men’s hoop title:
/ref> In 2014, Carleton defeated cross-town rivals University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 79-67 to win their tenth CIS National Men's Basketball Championship under Smart's tenure. Carleton defeated the University of Ottawa in a rematch the following year, for the 2015 CIS Final 8 National Men's Basketball Championship, by a score of 93-46, claiming Carleton's eleventh championship in men's basketball. On July 31, 2015, Dave Smart took a sabbatical from head coaching duties at Carleton University, and his nephew, Rob Smart, was named interim head coach. Led by coach Rob Smart, and after losing four starters from the previous year's championship, Carleton defeated the Calgary Dinos in the 2016 CIS final by a score of 101-79. This is the Carleton Ravens' 12th CIS championship win overall, and 6th consecutive championship win. Dave Smart returned from his sabbatical, and resumed his position as head coach of the Carleton Ravens for the 2016-2017 season. Led by Coach Smart, the Ravens captured their seventh consecutive national championship in men's basketball, thirteenth overall, and twelfth for Dave Smart, defeating the

Ryerson Rams TMU Bold (known as the Ryerson Rams prior to August 2022) are the varsity athletic teams that represent Toronto Metropolitan University (previously known as Ryerson University) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto Metropolitan University operates ...

78-69. The seventh consecutive championship by the Ravens matches the record at the Canadian university sports level, set by the University of Victoria. On March 10, 2019, Coach Smart and the Carleton Ravens won the school's fourteenth men's basketball National Championship (and fifteenth basketball National Championship overall), defeating the

Calgary Dinos The Calgary Dinos are the athletic teams that represent the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. They were known as the "Dinosaurs" but usually referred to as the "Dinos" until 1999, when the name was officially shortened. Some of its venue ...

83-49.

Director of Basketball Operations, Carleton University

On March 19, 2019, Dave Smart stepped down as head coach of the Carleton University Ravens Men's Basketball team, accepting a new position with the university: Director of Basketball Operations. Ravens Women's Basketball head coach Taffe Charles was named Smart's replacement. With Charles as head coach and Smart as Director of Basketball Operations, Carleton won its fifteenth national championship in men's basketball, defeating the Dalhousie University Tigers 74-65, on March 8, 2020. Charles became the first black head coach to win a Canadian national championship in men's basketball, and the first head coach to win Canadian national championships in both women's and men's basketball. Smart served as a guest speaker for the

of the

at several of their summer rookie camps, before being hired as a coaching consultant for the team, prior to the 2019–20 NHL season. Smart's focus will be on defensive mindsets, and player attitude and personality. Dave Smart was named the inaugural General Manager of the expansion Ottawa Blackjacks of the CEBL on December 18, 2019. Smart retained his position of Director of Basketball Operations at Carleton University, concurrent with his duties as General Manager of the Ottawa Blackjacks. Smart stepped down as General Manager of the Ottawa Blackjacks on August 18, 2020.

Consultant, Ottawa Senators

Smart was hired by the

of the

to serve as a consultant to the coaching staff during the 2019-20 season. He continues in this role to this day.

Other coaching awards and achievements

In the 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018 seasons, Smart was awarded the Stewart W. Aberdeen Memorial Trophy, as the top men's basketball coach in Canadian university sports. Smart won OUA coach-of-the-year awards thirteen times, for the 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons. Smart won 92 per cent of his games against Canadian opposition between 1999 and 2019. He led the Ravens to a Canadian men's record of 87 consecutive wins in league and playoff games, from 2002-2005. On 8 April 2012, Smart was named the Under 20 Great Britain Men's Basketball Head Coach. Smart has also been an assistant coach with the

Canadian national men's basketball team The Canadian men's national basketball team represents Canada in international basketball competitions since 1923. They are overseen by Canada Basketball, the governing body of basketball in Canada. The team's head coach is Nick Nurse and its ...

, under former NBA player Leo Rautins,Rautins back as Canada's basketball coach
,

CBC Sports CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-languag ...

, May 22, 2007, retrieved 2010-10-31 and under NBA coach Jay Triano. Smart was inducted into the Order of Ottawa by Mayor Jim Watson on November 17, 2016. He was inducted into the

Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame (french: Temple de la renommée du sport d'Ottawa) is a hall of fame dedicated to recognizing athletes and sportspeople associated with Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Ottawa City Hall and includes over 270 ...

in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, David 1966 births Living people Canadian men's basketball coaches Canadian men's basketball players Queen's University at Kingston alumni Sportspeople from Kingston, Ontario Basketball players from Ottawa U Sports coaches