Jonathan Keith Smart (born September 21, 1964) is an American collegiate

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 ...

coach and former player.

Playing career

He is perhaps best remembered for hitting the game-winning shot in the

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NCAA championship game that gave the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

a 74–73 victory over the Syracuse Orangemen. He had transferred to Indiana from Garden City Community College in Kansas where he was a two-year standout and Jayhawk Conference Player of the Year. After two seasons at Indiana, Smart was signed by the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, with whom he played two games in the 1988–89 season. In 12 minutes, Smart scored two points and had two assists and one rebound. Smart later played in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, with the

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Magnolia ...

of the PBA, in the

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Reinforced Conference, where he played through an injury and was eventually replaced by Ennis Whatley after only five games. After the PBA, he played in the

World Basketball League World Basketball League (WBL) was a minor professional basketball league in the United States and Canada which operated from 1988 to 1992. It was founded as the International Basketball Association in November 1987, before changing its name prior ...

: first with the

Worcester Counts The Worcester Counts were a professional basketball franchise based in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1989. The team played its inaugural season in the World Basketball League before folding. The Worcester Counts were one of numerous failed minor leag ...

in 1989. He then played for the Youngstown Pride and was traded to the Halifax Windjammers in March 1991. Smart later played in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

with the

Rapid City Thrillers The Rapid City Thrillers were a semi-professional basketball team in Rapid City, South Dakota, that competed in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) beginning in the 1987 season. They were reincarnated in 1998 as an International Basket ...

(1995–96) and Fort Wayne Fury (1996–97). He also played two seasons in France, and one in Venezuela.

Coaching career

In 2002, Smart finished the season as interim coach of the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

. His record was 9–31 with the club. In 2003, he became an assistant with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

. In 2010, Smart took over for

head coach

Don Nelson Donald Arvid Nelson (born May 15, 1940) is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. Nelson is second all-time in regular season wins of any coach in NBA history, with 1,335 (he held the record for most wins for almost 12 ...

before the start of the 2010-11 training camp. The Warriors fired Smart on April 27, 2011, following a 36 win season, a 10-game improvement from the previous season. He joined the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

as an assistant coach in November 2011.Keith Smart, Bobby Jackson join Kings
/ref> On January 5, 2012, the Kings named Smart head coach after firing Paul Westphal. He recorded a 48–93 record over parts of two seasons with the team. On May 31, 2013, the Kings fired Smart with one year remaining on his contract. On September 17, 2014, the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

announced they had hired Smart as an assistant coach. On December 6, 2019, Smart was fired by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

. On May 12, 2021, Smart was announced as Assistant Coach of the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

under Head Coach Eric Musselman. On January 15, 2022, Smart served one game as the Arkansas interim coach while Musselman was out with shoulder surgery. Smart led the unranked Razorbacks to a thrilling 65–58 victory over No. 12 LSU in Baton Rouge. On January 13, 2025 Smart was announced as the head coach for Utah Prep Academy in Hurricane, Utah. There he coaches the #1 high school player in the nation, AJ Dybantsa.

Personal life

Smart and his wife Carol have two children. His son Jared is currently a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Head coaching record

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Notes

External links