Jimmy Smith will be in his fifth season as the head Men’s Basketball coach during the 2024-25 season.
During the 2023-24 season, the Tiger Men’s Basketball program excelled, winning 15 consecutive games to start the season and finishing with a 23-4 record, including 14-2 in SCAC play. The team secured the SCAC Regular Season Championship and made their 12th NCAA playoff appearance. Trinity ranked 11th nationally in steals per game (10.3) and 9th in turnovers forced per game (18.22). The Tigers’ impressive performance earned them several awards: Freshman Christian Green was named D3hoops.com National and Regional Rookie of the Year, First-Team All-Region, All-SCAC, and SCAC Freshman of the Year. Additionally, three other Tigers received All-Conference honors.
During his time at Trinity, Coach Smith has posted a 76-19 record at Trinity. Jimmy has also earned SCAC Coach of the Year honors and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District Coach of the Year for the 2023-24 season. Before Trinity, He began his head coaching career at Schreiner (Texas) University in 2012, and led the Mountaineers for two seasons. Coach Smith turned the program around from an 11-15 mark his first year, to a 15-12 record during his second season which registered the Mountaineers' first winning season since entering NCAA III competition in 1998. The Mountaineers also advanced to the SCAC Semifinals in the 2013-14 conference tournament.
Coach Smith held the head coaching position at Texas Lutheran University for two seasons. The Bulldogs had finished last in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) in the 2013-14 season. Coach Smith took over the following year, and Texas Lutheran posted an 18-10 record, won the SCAC Championship, and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament, further proving Smith's knack for quick turnarounds. The Bulldogs racked up a 21-7 record in 2015-16 and won the SCAC trophy and earned an NCAA appearance. Coach Smith was elected the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division III South Region Co-Coach of the Year for the 2015-16 season following the successful run of the Bulldogs. He also was tabbed as the SCAC Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year during each of his two seasons at Texas Lutheran. Coach Smith also served for three years as the head coach of Millsaps (Miss.) College, where the Majors posted a mark of 17-10 with an appearance in the Southern Athletics Association championship game for the 2019-20 campaign. Smith's achievements with the Majors exemplified his efforts in rebuilding the program after inheriting a squad fresh-off a 4-22 campaign in 2016-17.
Coach Smith has developed 3 All-Region and 19 All-SCAC players during his time at Trinity. His achievements include mentoring a D3hoops.com National Rookie of the Year, two SCAC Players of the Year, one SCAC Freshman of the Year, and one SCAC Man of the Year. Off the field, the Tigers have also excelled academically, with five players earning CSC Academic All-District honors, 36 players making the SCAC Honor Roll, and one player receiving an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
On top of his NCAA experience, Coach Smith has also had two opportunities to coach for USA Basketball. Last summer, Coach Smith was selected as the head coach of the 2024 USA 3x3 Men's U23 National Team. Smith coached a group of 4 USA athletes in the U23 World Cup held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The team excelled in pool play, going 4-0 with victories over Chile, Lithuania, Kenya, and Latvia. After winning their pool, the USA advanced to the quarterfinals where they defeated China. In the semifinals, the team edged out Spain before falling to Germany in the gold medal game. All in all, it was a very successful trip and Coach Smith and Team USA left Mongolia with a silver medal.
I’m the Summer of 2003, Coach Smith made his 3x3 coaching debut with USA Basketball as he was named head coach of the Men's U21 National Team. Smith, and 6 Trinity Tigers, made the trip to the U21 Nations League held in Handan, China. The Nations League consisted of national teams from Chile, China, Japan, Mongolia, and the USA. Team USA performed quite well in the Nations League by winning Stop 5, and also ending the league with the most overall wins, and highest winning percentage.
Coach Smith was a four-year men’s basketball letter-winner at Mary Hardin-Baylor. He was a three-time Academic All-American Southwest Conference (ASC) honoree and was named to the Verizon/College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District VI First Team his senior year. He received UMHB Male Athlete of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year recognition, as well as ASC All-Honorable Mention kudos.
Coach Smith earned a bachelor’s degree from Mary Hardin-Baylor in business administration in 2004.Smith and his wife Lori married in 2010 and have three children: Harrison, Eliza, and Sage.
