Jay Smith
Assistant Men's Basketball Coach
Phone: 313-993-1731
Email:
jay.smith@udmercy.edu
Now in his second season on Ray McCallum’s coaching staff, new assistant coach Jay Smith has brought a wealth of basketball experience with him to UDM.
Smith is a former head coach at both Grand Valley State and Central Michigan, and also served as an assistant at Kent State and Michigan during his career. He has been working in the private business sector since leaving Central Michigan in 2006 and is a welcomed addition to the UDM coaching staff.
“I’ve known Jay since our college days,” McCallum recalled. “I tried to recruit him to Ball State when I was there. Our relationship has continued for many years. We were on the staff together for a short time at Michigan, and we were competing coaches in the Mid-American Conference. He’ll bring state-wide recognition with him to our school.
“He’s produced MAC Champions and he’s developed pro prospects. That’s going to make him a great addition to our first staff. He’s going to work with our big guys. He developed Chris Kaman into a (NBA Draft) lottery pick. He worked with (Chris) Webber and all those post guys at Michigan who went on to the NBA,” coach McCallum added. “So you know he’s going to work with our big guys, too.”
In his last college assignment, Smith coached Central Michigan for nine years, and was named Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year after leading CMU to the regular season title in both 2001 and 2003. His 2003 squad won a school-record 25 games en route to the MAC Tournament championship. CMU went on to win its 2003 first-round NCAA Tournament game over 15th-ranked Creighton.
CMU was 95-160 in nine seasons under Smith. The 95 victories rank fourth in Chippewas history while the nine seasons rank as the school’s fourth-longest coaching tenure.
Smith recruited and coached two MAC Players of the Year in David Webber (2001) and Chris Kaman (2003). Kaman left Central after his junior season and was the sixth overall selection in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. Smith’s CMU players earned two first-team All-MAC honors, one second-team award, eight honorable mention selections and five MAC All-Freshman Team picks.
Smith also was head coach at Grand Valley State for one season – compiling a 23-6 record and guiding the Lakers to a GLIAC Championship in 1997 – and served on the staff at Kent State from 1984-89, and at Michigan from 1989 to ’96. Smith still holds the state record for career scoring after notching 2,841 points at Mio Au Sable High School (1976-79).
Smith graduated from Saginaw Valley State in 1984, and received his master’s in 1986 from Kent State. Smith and his wife Tymi are the proud parents of two children, son Cooper (9) and daughter Cazzi Renee (4).
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