Oakland University Men’s Basketball Head Coach Greg Kampe announced Jeff Smith has joined the program as the associate head coach. Smith spent the previous seven seasons as an assistant coach at Central Michigan from 2012-19.
“Although we lost a veteran coach in Dan Hipsher, we have gained another veteran coach in Jeff Smith,” said Kampe. “He has been in our system before and will continue to help build our program.”
The Carson City, Mich. native is now in his second stint with Oakland, after serving five seasons on the sidelines for the Golden Grizzlies as an assistant coach (2002-05) then as the associate head coach (2005-07). He was largely responsible for Oakland’s highly-touted 2005 recruiting class and also helped the Golden Grizzlies to the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament championship plus a win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in 2005.
“I am extremely excited to rejoin Coach Kampe’s staff at Oakland University,” added Smith. “The level of consistency here is remarkable, and I look forward to the challenge of continuing to build upon all of the success. I know that this position will provide me with new challenges and responsibilities, and working for a head coach with his level of intelligence, experience and toughness is invigorating. I am anxious to get going and see where the future will take us.”
Smith played for two seasons at Alma College before a knee injury ended his career. He then worked with the program for two years as a student assistant and was named the college’s junior varsity coach during his senior season, where his coaching career began. He was then an assistant coach at Albion College from 1995-97.
Smith joined the CMU program as a graduate assistant in 1997 and was promoted to assistant coach two years later. He helped the 2000-01 Chippewas to a 20-8 record and Mid-American Conference title.
After his first stint at Oakland, Smith worked as an assistant on coach Jim Boylen’s staff at Utah from 2007-11, helping the Utes to the Mountain West Conference title and a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2011. He then spent the 2011-12 season as an assistant at UC-Riverside before returning to Mount Pleasant.
