Keno Davis, hired at the beginning of the month as head men’s basketball coach, has announced the addition of two assistant coaches – Jeff Smith and Kevin Gamble – to his first Central Michigan staff.

Gamble was a member of Davis’ staff at Providence while Smith, a Michigan native, is a former Chippewa assistant.

Gamble, a 10-year NBA veteran, left an eight-year stint as a college head coach to spend the 2010-11 season as the Friars’ coordinator of player development and video operations, heading up the program’s academics, student-athlete development and video efforts.

member of the 1986-87 Iowa team that won 30 games and advanced to the Elite 8 under Davis’ father, Gamble was selected by the Portland Trailblazers in the third round of the 1987 NBA Draft. He played with the Boston Celtics from 1988-94 and finished his career with the Sacramento Kings in 1996.

Prior to joining the Friars, Gamble served as the first head coach at the University of Illinois-Springfield where he put together a 130-79 record and earned a pair of American Midwest Conference Coach of the Year honors.

Smith returns to his roots in the state of Michigan for his second stint as a Chippewa assistant. He originally joined the CMU men’s program as a graduate assistant in May 1997 and served in that capacity for two years before being promoted to assistant coach. Shortly thereafter, he helped the 2000-01 Chippewas to a 20-8 record and a Mid-American Conference title. Smith was on the CMU bench until September 2002 when he joined the staff at Oakland.

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