Arthur John Smiley (December 22, 1922 – July 30, 2000) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. Smiley played basketball for Waterman High School, in

Waterman, Illinois Waterman is a village in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,433 at the 2020 census. The village was known for the "Waterman and Western" train line that operates in Lion's Club Park. This 1/3 scale train line comprises a ...

. With

Gene Vance Ellis Eugene Vance (February 25, 1923 – February 16, 2012) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Chicago Stags and Tri-Cities ...

, Andy Phillip,

Ken Menke Kenneth Howard Menke (October 2, 1922 – September 2, 2002) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball League for the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in 1947–48 and the Waterloo Hawks in the National Baske ...

, and

Art Mathisen Arthur Fremont Mathisen (February 27, 1920 – January 5, 2004) was an American college basketball standout for Illinois in the 1940s. A center, Mathison led the Fighting Illini in rebounding while scoring over 500 points in his three years of var ...

, Smiley was a member of the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

' " Whiz Kids" team that went 35-6 from 1941 to 1943, earning two

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championships. The team voted to turn down an invitation to the NCAA tournament in 1943, after Smiley, Vance and Phillip were inducted into the military mid-season. As an artillery corporal with the Army's 106th division, Smiley was engaged in one of the bloodiest skirmishes of the Battle of the Bulge- once firing his 105 mm Howitzer for 96 continuous hours. The 106th division suffered a 90% casualty rate in the skirmish. Smiley returned to Illinois for the 1946-47 season and won team MVP honors.Jim Rossow. "Whiz Kid passes away". ''News Gazette''. July 31, 2000. C1. After college, Smiley played two seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

with the

Fort Wayne Pistons A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Anderson Packers The Anderson Packers, also known as the Anderson Duffey Packers and the Chief Anderson Meat Packers, were a professional basketball team based in Anderson, Indiana, in the 1940s and 1950s. The team was founded and owned by brothers Ike W. and Jo ...

, and Waterloo Hawks. He averaged 6.2 points per game in his NBA career. Smiley also served as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

for the Hawks for 27 games in the 1949-50 season, and posted an 11-16 record.Jack Smiley coaching statistics
basketball-reference.com. Retrieved on May 27, 2010. Smiley spent his later years in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. He died in 2000.

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

1922 births 2000 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Anderson Packers players Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Illinois Fort Wayne Pistons players Forwards (basketball) Guards (basketball) Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Player-coaches Waterloo Hawks coaches Waterloo Hawks players {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub