Jerry Smith (born October 7, 1941) is an American 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 (appro ...

player. He was the 12th overall pick by the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

in the

1963 NBA draft The 1963 NBA draft was the 17th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 30 and May 7, 1963, before the 1963–64 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college baske ...

. Smith came from

Corbin, Kentucky Corbin is a home rule-class city in Whitley, Knox and Laurel counties in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 7,856. Corbin is on Interstate 75 and US Route 25W, about hal ...

Furman University Furman University is a private university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1826 and named after Baptist pastor Richard Furman, the Liberal arts college, liberal arts university is the oldest private institution of higher l ...

, where he averaged 23.2 points per game for his career.

College career

Coming from Corbin High School, which had also produced

Frank Selvy Franklin Delano Selvy (November 9, 1932 – August 13, 2024) was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) player who was best known for holding the record for the most points (100) in a Division I college basketball game. Born in Corb ...

, Smith was heavily recruited, but decided to follow in Selvy's footsteps and attend Furman. Smith became a three-time All-

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

player for

and was a prolific scorer. He averaged 22.4 points in 1960–1961, 27.0 in 1961–1962 and 20.3 in 1962–1963. Smith led the

in scoring with in 1962 and earned All-America Second Team honors that year. Smith remains Furman's all–time leader in career free throw percentage at 82.2%, and ranks fifth in program history with 1,885 career points, averaging 23.2 points per game for his career under coach Lyles Alley.

Professional career

On April 30, 1963, the

selected Smith in Round 2 with Pick 4 (#12 overall) in the 1963 NBA Draft. Smith agreed to contract terms with the Pistons on July 9, 1963. The Pistons ultimately kept first-round pick

Eddie Miles Edward Miles Jr. (born July 5, 1940) is a retired American basketball player. His shooting ability was such, that he was known as "The Man With the Golden Arm". Early life Miles was born on July 5, 1940, in North Little Rock, Arkansas. He wa ...

instead, (Miles was the only rookie kept on the team) with Smith being cut from the roster on October 15, 1963.

Honors

* Smith was inducted into the Furman Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988 * Smith had his No. 50 retired by Furman in 2010 and joined Frank Selvy (28),

Clyde Mayes Clyde Clauthen Mayes Jr. (born March 17, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in Europe for various teams. His international career took him to Italy, France ...

(34), Darrell Floyd (33), Jonathan Moore (25) and Nield Gordon (27) as the only players to have their number retired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jerry 1941 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Kentucky Detroit Pistons draft picks Furman Paladins men's basketball players Guards (basketball) People from Corbin, Kentucky 20th-century American sportsmen