A former Colorado State basketball player with NCAA tournament experience, has joined the McCook Community College coaching staff.
Dwight Smith, an Omaha Ralston graduate, was a sophomore guard on Coach Tim Miles’ 2012 team that went 20-12 and earned the 11th seed of the opening round before losing to sixth-seeded Murray State at Louisville, Kent. Smith started eight games and averaged 5.1 points per game for the Rams that season.
“We are very fortunate to have Dwight join our staff here at MCC,” said MCC Men’s Basketball Coach Jacob Brandl. “As a player he’s played at very high levels and won. That experience will no doubt translate well to our program with him as an assistant coach.”
After graduating from Omaha Ralston High School in 2010, Smith was recruited by Creighton and Nebraska but ultimately decided on Colorado State University in Fort Collins where he played in 68 games over four years (sitting out the 2012-2013 season with an injury.) As a graduate transfer in 2014-2015, he also played for Northern Colorado University in Greeley, Colo. where he averaged 20.1 minutes per game and started four of the eight games he played.
“His basketball knowledge and background in skill development was something that stood out to me,” Brandl said. “How he carries himself and how he treats his players is something special and I look forward to working with him.”
Smith was at Eastern Wyoming in 2018-2019 where he was an assistant for both the men and women’s teams. For the Lady Lancers he also led the recruitment of incoming players.
Since 2017 he has also been with React Fast Training Academy in Windsor, Colo., working as an individual basketball skills development trainer and assistant camp coordinator/instructor for athletes ranging from middle school to professional level.
“I worked with specific skill groups ranging from ball handling/passing, shooting and footwork as well as high level high school and up,” he said.
From 2017-18 he was the site director for Power 2 Play Sports in Windsor, Colo., directing and organizing various tournaments and leagues assisting and directing
He spent time as an assistant coach at Westside High School in Omaha in 2014 and from 2016-2017 at Adams City High School in Commerce City, Colo. He was a high school and pro player development coach at Adam Barnes Skills Academy in Lincoln form 2010-2014, a camp leader at the 2014 CSU camps and an assistant with the Anthony Toliver Camp in Omaha in 2012.
