New Knoxville Catholic coach opening

[IrishBBall]

Catholic with a home run hire in Luke Smith. Former Irish player that was a 4 year starter winning All-state and Mr. Basketball runner-up honors before heading to Sewanee winning multiple D3 awards. Transferred to Belmont  winning multiple awards and being ranked as a NCAA leader in 11 categories, OVC  Newcomer of the Year... and Academic All-American. Playing out his last year at Belmont before taking the job.

[ClaboCrazy1961]

13 hours ago, IrishBBall said:

Catholic with a home run hire in Luke Smith. Former Irish player that was a 4 year starter winning All-state and Mr. Basketball runner-up honors before heading to Sewanee winning multiple D3 awards. Transferred to Belmont  winning multiple awards and being ranked as a NCAA leader in 11 categories, OVC  Newcomer of the Year... and Academic All-American. Playing out his last year at Belmont before taking the job.

Being a good player does not always equate to being a good coach.  I would not call it a home run hire yet.  The young man has a lot to learn about being a coach, let alone a head coach.  He may very well end up winning state titles and staying there for 30 years, but it seems they rushed to announce a hire to keep the panic down and their recruits from jumping ship from my perspective.  

[FHSAlum12]

Bold hire for KCHS. I respect the willingness to think outside the box. Time will tell if it is the right decision. Clearly they see something special in this young man!

[IrishBBall]

1 hour ago, LittleJerrySeinfeld said:

Being a good player does not always equate to being a good coach.  I would not call it a home run hire yet.  The young man has a lot to learn about being a coach, let alone a head coach.  He may very well end up winning state titles and staying there for 30 years, but it seems they rushed to announce a hire to keep the panic down and their recruits from jumping ship from my perspective.  

I think this hire was in place before the retirement announcement. 

[IrishBBall]

51 minutes ago, FHSAlum12 said:

Bold hire for KCHS. I respect the willingness to think outside the box. Time will tell if it is the right decision. Clearly they see something special in this young man!

He is indeed something special from a perspective beyond his playing talent. Great basketball IQ, obviously smart being a basketball Academic All-American, former Catholic alum since elementary school and most importantly a winner.

[ClaboCrazy1961]

13 minutes ago, IrishBBall said:

He is indeed something special from a perspective beyond his playing talent. Great basketball IQ, obviously smart being a basketball Academic All-American, former Catholic alum since elementary school and most importantly a winner.

Being a Catholic alum or a good student does not factor into being a good head coach.  There is much more to it than x's and o's as well.  Many smart men and great players have not done well as a coach.  Like I said before, he could be an amazing hire, but I am skeptical at this point.  He has not put in any time as an assistant or had time to learn the profession.  With the amount of talent he will have on the roster, there will be high expectations for sure.

Edited November 5, 2021 by LittleJerrySeinfeld
grammatical error

[IrishBBall]

4 hours ago, LittleJerrySeinfeld said:

Being a Catholic alum or a good student does not factor into being a good head coach.  There is much more to it than x's and o's as well.  Many smart men and great players have not done well as a coach.  Like I said before, he could be an amazing hire, but I am skeptical at this point.  He has not put in any time as an assistant or had time to learn the profession.  With the amount of talent he will have on the roster, there will be high expectations for sure.

Don’t disagree with any of your points. I understand the skepticism and it will not be easy. Getting the right assistants in place is important. From an alumni and former player standpoint, he understands the expectations in the classroom, on the court and in the public eye. He’s been surrounded by excellent coaches from high school, AAU, and college. What I do know is his character and work ethic. This is a kid that has been told he couldn’t make it at several levels and he’s always proven them wrong with heart, work ethic and talent.The kid didn’t pass the eye test that so many D1 coaches insist on.  I tried to help him get recruited at the D1 level coming out of high school even reaching out to Belmont connections. He ended up at Sewanee because of the academics more so than athletics. He was able to transition to Belmont after 2 great years at Sewanee. His first appearance at Belmont led to a Paradise Jam Tournament MVP. Talked to the same connection after the tourney and he asked wasn’t this the kid you talked to us about... My answer was yes but better late than never. My point is not that he’s a great player but he’s one that will rise to the challenge in my opinion and I’ve seen it time after time. I wouldn’t bet against him!

[QSouth89]

19 hours ago, IrishBBall said:

I think this hire was in place before the retirement announcement. 

Interesting comment 

[FHSAlum12]

On 11/6/2021 at 6:58 AM, QSouth89 said:

Interesting comment 

And, if so, I don't see a problem with it. Duke handled their vacancy the same way.

[ClaboCrazy1961]

31 minutes ago, FHSAlum12 said:

And, if so, I don't see a problem with it. Duke handled their vacancy the same way.

It seems odd that a current or former assistant did not get the job, and then let Smith learn the coaching profession as an assistant before taking over.  I disagree about Duke. They did not handle the same way.  Scheyer has been on staff since 2014.  For Duke and Catholic to be the same in this situation would be like Duke hiring Grayson Allen as head coach for next season.

[FHSAlum12]

Just now, LittleJerrySeinfeld said:

It seems odd that a current or former assistant did not get the job, and then let Smith learn the coaching profession as an assistant before taking over.  I disagree about Duke. They did not handle the same way.  Scheyer has been on staff since 2014.  For Duke and Catholic to be the same in this situation would be like Duke hiring Grayson Allen as head coach for next season.

Good point. I do think it is always tough when hiring a HC without HC experience. In this situation, they are really gambling because of zero coaching experience. The young man may not even know if he wants to be in that profession.

[threeball]

I hope Luke Smith has all the success that he can handle.  I do know that he has an impressive resume on the court and in the classroom.  My biggest red flag is the comments people saying about him such as, "This kid...."  

Not saying he is a kid.  I'm just saying that coaching where you went to high school at an early age is a tough thing... and it may be hard for him to get seen as a coach instead of the player he was at that school.  I'm very surprised he wasn't an assistant coach for a few years to learn the profession. 

Again, I hope he finds success, and wish him and the Catholic program the very best. Big boots to fill!