Kevin Smith is in his eighth year on the Campbell staff in 2022-23 and first as associate head coach. He joined the Fighting Camel program in the summer of 2015 after serving two years as director of basketball operations at his alma mater, the University of Richmond.
Over the past six years, Smith has helped lead the Camels to 105 victories and three post-season berths – both tops in Campbell’s Division I era, which stretches to the 1977-78 campaign.
During that span, the Camels have claimed three Big South trophies. Campbell won the 2019 Big South regular season title and finished as Big South tournament runner-up in 2017 and 2021.
“Kevin Smith has been an integral part of the most successful six-year stretch in Campbell history,” said head coach Kevin McGeehan. “He is such an asset to our program; he has made himself into an incredibly well-rounded coach. Offense, defense, special teams, player development, recruiting; he has been asked to wear many hats and it has really made him an outstanding coach. He will be great in his expanded role as Associate Head Coach.”
The 2021-22 Camels finished with 16 wins and ranked among the nation’s most disciplined teams – committing the third-fewest fouls and making the sixth-fewest turnovers among 350 programs. CU also led the Big South in assist-turnover ratio and fewest turnovers per game (10.4).
Campbell posted wins over 2021 NCAA tournament team Hartford and Conference USA member Marshall, while taking ninth-ranked Duke to the wire before falling at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Campbell’s .630 winning percentage (17-10) in 2020-21 marked the program’s highest since the 2009-10 team finished 19-11 (.633).
After the Camels were picked 10th in the 2020-21 Big South preseason poll, Smith helped guide the team to a 3rd-place finish in the regular season (11-6), then CU claimed wins over Gardner-Webb and Radford to reach the league final.
The Camels reeled off a school Division I era (since ‘77-78) record 9-game win streak to reach the Big South Championship game.
He coached a pair of Big South all-conference honorees in 2020-21 – Cedric Henderson, Jr. and Jordan Whitfield. Whitfield was joined on the Big South all-tournament team by Ricky Clemons.
The Camels led the Big South Conference – and ranked 10th in the nation – in team field goal percentage in 2020-21. CU’s 58.5 field goal percentage in the Big South semifinal win at Radford set a school mark for highest team FG% in Big South tournament play. The Camels made a season-high 67.1 percent of their shots vs. Florida National (12/10), one day after making 60.5 percent vs. New Orleans. CU hit 62 percent from the floor in an 84-83 loss Dec. 30 at eventual Big South champion Winthrop.
In addition, Campbell ranked fourth in the country in points after called timeouts and 25th nationally in 3-point accuracy (.375).
Cory Gensler was named the 2020 Big South men’s basketball scholar-athlete of the year and the Camels ranked among league leaders in free throw percentage, turnover margin, assists, steals and assist-turnover ratio.
The 2018-19 Camels compiled a 20-13 overall record and their first league regular season title since 2010 by posting a 12-4 record and earning the top seed in the conference tournament for the first time. CU earned the Big South’s automatic berth to the NIT – another program first – and produced the program’s first 20-win season in a quarter century.
The 2019 Camels ranked among the country’s top 20 schools in turnovers per game, fewest turnovers, turnover margin, assist turnover ratio and free throw percentage.
CU won the Rose Hall Division of the Jamaica Classic and went on to claim 12 league wins, the most by a Campbell squad since 2010. CU also set new school single-game (3,351) and single season (2,196 average) attendance records during the 2019 campaign.
The 2017-18 Camels reached the semifinal round of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). For the second-straight season, Campbell won two post-season games – defeating Miami (Ohio) of the Mid-American Conference and Sun Belt member New Orleans before dropping a 3-point decision at West Coast Conference member San Francisco.
CU led the Big South Conference (and ranked 33rd in the nation) in field goal percentage (.477) in 2017-18, while rating second in the league in 3-point accuracy (.388, 29th in the country) and free throw shooting (.750, 51st in the nation).
During his time at Campbell, Smith mentored point guard, Chris Clemons, the 2016 Big South freshman of the year and 2019 league player of the year. Clemons became the first Camel to earn All-America honors on the Division I level after leading the nation in scoring (30.1) as a senior in 2019. Clemons scored a school and Big South single-season record 993 points in 33 outings in ’18-19. He finished his career third all-time among NCAA Division I scorers with a league record 3,225 points and tied the national record by scoring in double figures in 115-straight games. Clemons signed a free agent contract with the Houston Rockets.
Campbell recorded 19 wins in 2016-2017, the second most victories in the school’s Division I history. After reaching the title game of the Big South Conference Championship, the program also recorded its first ever post-season win by advancing to the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com tournament.
During Smith’s tenure in Buies Creek, Campbell is one of the country’s most improved free throw shooting teams, moving up 301 places over two years to a No.-37 national finish in 2016-17 (75.1).
Before joining the Camel staff, Smith helped lead Richmond to the quarterfinals of the 2015 post-season NIT. UR went 2-1 against ranked opponents in the 2014-15 season, improving to 12-12 against the Top 25 since 2008.
A three-year starter during his undergraduate days, Smith helped lead the Spiders to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, back-to-back top-25 finishes, the 2011 Atlantic 10 Championship and 2011 NCAA Sweet 16. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native was named to the A-10 all-defensive team as a senior.
Smith went on to play professional basketball after graduating from Richmond in May 2011. He spent the 2011-12 season with the Takamatsu Five Arrows (Japan) and the 2012-13 campaign with Albacomp (Hungary).
Smith and his wife, Alyssa, are proud parents of a son, Beau, and two daughters, Elaina and Emme.
