Dwight Smith (basketball)

Dwight Smith
Smith with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, c. 1966
Personal information
Born(1945-08-27)August 27, 1945
Princeton, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedMay 14, 1967(1967-05-14) (aged 21)
near Nortonville, Kentucky, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High schoolDotson (Princeton, Kentucky)
CollegeWestern Kentucky (1964–1967)
NBA draft1967: 3rd round, 23rd overall pick
Drafted byLos Angeles Lakers
PositionGuard
Career highlights
Stats at Basketball Reference 

Dwight E. Smith (August 27, 1945 – May 14, 1967) was an American basketball player. He played college basketball for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers from 1964 to 1967. Smith was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the third round of the 1967 NBA draft but was killed in a car accident less than two weeks later.

Early life

Smith was born on August 27, 1945, in Princeton, Kentucky, to Henry Vernal and Pearl Smith.[1] His father worked as a basketball referee and one of his uncles, George "Sonny" Smith, played for the Harlem Globetrotters.[2]

Smith attended the all-black Dotson High School in Princeton.[2] He led the team to the state tournament and was selected to the all-state team in 1963.[3] His father claimed that Smith received "letters from everywhere" during his college recruitment even though "a lot of schools at that time wouldn't take blacks."[2]

College career

Smith played college basketball for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers from 1964 to 1967.[4] He and Clem Haskins were the first African-American basketball players to play for the Hilltoppers and were among the first black college basketball players in the Southern United States.[2] Smith was later joined by his younger brother, Greg, and formed one of the best-known brother combinations in college basketball.[5]

Smith was named to the All-Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) team all three years of his varsity career.[6] Standing at 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), Smith was one of the tallest guards in college basketball at the time.[3] He led the nation in rebounds by a guard during his sophomore and senior seasons.[4] Hilltoppers coach John Oldham called Smith the greatest rebounding guard in the nation.[3][7] Smith also served as the Hilltoppers' playmaker throughout his collegiate career.[3] Haskins claimed that Smith sacrificed himself during their time on the Hilltoppers by focusing on being a great defensive player and point guard instead of scoring.[2] He was team captain during his junior and senior seasons.[3] Smith left the Hilltoppers ranked ninth among the program's all-time scoring leaders.[5]

Smith majored in physical education and sociology.[5] He aspired to become a coach.[5] On March 10, 1967, Smith was commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel by governor Ned Breathitt.[1]

Professional career

On May 3, 1967, Smith was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the third round of the 1967 NBA draft.[8] It was Smith's childhood dream to play for the Lakers alongside Elgin Baylor and Jerry West.[7] He was also selected in the 1967 ABA draft by the Kentucky Colonels.[9] Smith planned to visit Los Angeles in the following weeks.[5] Oldham called Smith "a tremendous player" who "had a great future in pro ranks."[5]

Death

On May 14, 1967, Smith, Greg and their sister, Kay, were returning to Western Kentucky after a visit to their home in Princeton for Mother's Day.[10] Their car, driven by Greg,[11] was one mile south of Nortonville, Kentucky, when it hit high water and plunged into a rain-swollen ditch.[10] A witness of the accident used their ambulance to pull the car out but Smith and Kay were already dead.[3] Greg survived and was taken to a nearby hospital where he received treatment.[3]

On May 19, 2,500 people attended the funeral of Smith and Kay held in the gymnasium of Caldwell County High School.[12] The service was attended by Oldham, Wes Unseld, Butch Beard, Jim McDaniels, and all of Smith's Hilltoppers teammates.[12] Smith and Kay were buried next to each other in Cedar Hill Cemetery.[12]

Legacy

Smith had not taken his final exams at the time of his death but Western Kentucky University still awarded his degree.[2] He became the first college graduate in his family.[13] Western Kentucky's College Heights Foundation established an annual scholarship from the Dwight and Kay Smith Scholarship Fund for a student from Caldwell County, Kentucky.[2]

Smith was inducted into the Western Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996.[2] He was inducted into the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.[14]

On February 4, 2023, the Hilltoppers retired Smith's number 35 jersey in a ceremony that was attended by Greg and his two other siblings.[4] He was the 11th player in program history to have their jersey retired.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Smith, Henry. "UA94/6/1 Obsequies of Dwight Smith & Kay". Western Kentucky University. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Medley, Joe (September 22, 1995). "'We're going to get through this together'". The Park City Daily News. p. 8. Retrieved January 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Dwight Smith, Western Star, And Sister Killed In Mishap". The Paducah Sun. May 16, 1967. p. 2. Retrieved January 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c d Gaylord-Day, Kaden (February 5, 2023). "WKU retires WKU Legend Dwight Smith's jersey". WBKO. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Cage Star Dwight Smith And Sister Are Killed". The Courier-Journal. May 15, 1967. p. 18. Retrieved January 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "WKU Net Star Dwight Smith, Sister Die In Auto Accident". The Park City Daily News. May 15, 1967. p. 5. Retrieved January 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b Adams, David C. (May 15, 1967). "Dwight Smith Helped Other Guy Instead of Himself". The Courier-Journal. p. 21. Retrieved January 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "San Diego Picks Riley, Chicago Chooses Haskins, Royals Dampier in Draft". The Courier-Journal. May 4, 1967. p. 42. Retrieved January 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Swanson, Pete (May 7, 1967). "Offer To Frazier 'Totally False'". Evansville Press. p. 57. Retrieved January 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b "Cage Star Dwight Smith And Sister Are Killed". The Courier-Journal. May 15, 1967. p. 1. Retrieved January 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "WKU Net Star Dwight Smith, Sister Die In Auto Accident". The Park City Daily News. May 15, 1967. p. 1. Retrieved January 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b c "Last Rites Conducted For Smiths". The Paducah Sun. May 19, 1967. p. 7. Retrieved January 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Smith, Dwight". Notable Kentucky African Americans Database. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  14. ^ "Dwight Smith". Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.