The honor of being inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame was not anything Pete Smith expected.
“I was so gratefully shocked when I got the call,” Smith said. “I look around at all the great coaches who don’t get an honor like this. You never anticipate something like this happening. I have such respect for so many coaches who had unbelievable careers and are in it. It’s very humbling.”
Smith. 63, captured IHSAA Class 3A state championships in 2012 and 2015 at Guerin Catholic. He had 389 victories with an overall winning percentage of 61 percent. He and the other members of the class of 2024 will be inducted March 20 at Primo Banquet Hall in Indianapolis.
Smith, 63, moved to Westfield with his wife earlier this year after living 20-plus years in Noblesville.
The 1979 Rochester High School graduate was a team captain for the basketball team as a senior. He played one year at Bethel University before being injured prior to his sophomore year. He helped Bethel coach Homer Drew after that.
“He talked me into getting into coaching instead of sitting at the end of the bench,” Smith said.
Smith was an assistant at Warsaw for four years, which included a state championship in 1984.
Smith served as head coach at Manchester (1987-91), Noblesville (1991-94), Penn (1994-98) and Carmel (1998-2002) before becoming Guerin Catholic’s first coach The first two years there was a freshman and junior varsity team Smith coached before the school began varsity play in 2006-07. He coached there until retiring after the 2017-18 season.
“Starting the Guerin program from scratch was really cool,” he said.
Smith spent 33 years as a teacher, concluding his career at Carmel High School, but stayed on for two more seasons as basketball coach.
“I realized I like to teach and coach at the same time and not just coach,” he said.
Smith has worked in business development for Performance Services, an engineering firm, since retiring from teaching.
“I get asked why I retired early. I wasn’t enjoying it as much,” he said. “I just knew it was time for me to get out.”
Smith also serves as director of Community First Bank in Noblesville and is a color commentator on the Champions Network and ISC Sports Network.
“I keep my fingers in basketball,” he said. “I love it. I do some consulting. I have had 17 of my coaches go on to become head coaches in high school or college. I’ve kept in touch with them. I’ve been pleasantly overwhelmed with messages and calls (from people) that I haven’t heard from for a long time or surprised that they have time to reach out.”
One of those who reached out by text was his Carmel assistant coach, Boston Celtics executive Brad Stevens, who went on to coach Butler University and the Celtics.
