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Entering his eighth season as an assistant coach with the Miami RedHawks is Frankie Smith. With his continued dedication to the Miami program, Smith--along with associate head coach Jermaine Henderson, who is in his ninth year as a coach at Miami--anchor a solid coaching corps for head coach Charlie Coles, giving the RedHawks one of the most-established coaching staffs in the Mid-American Conference.
"Frankie has been very loyal to Miami Basketball and has done an outstanding job for our program since he joined our staff in 1999," says Coles. "He, along with our other coaches, takes great pride in our program and continually works toward the development of our players."
A successful and decorated high school coach in West Virginia, Smith, a Chattaroy, W. Va., native, joined the program in April of 1999. Over the past four years, Smith has helped Miami become the only Mid-American Conference program to earn four consecutive byes into the MAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed last season, the No. 1 seed in 2005 and No. 3 seed the previous two campaigns. With his promotion to second assistant in June of 2005, Smith assumed a larger roll in Miami's recruiting among various other duties.
Following an impressive coaching stint at the high school level, Smith joined the collegiate ranks to help further develop the skills of young athletes at a higher level. A successful West Virginia high school basketball coach, Smith was hired by head coach Charlie Coles to replace Don Moormeier, who retired from coaching in April 1999. Smith quickly blended with the existing staff, and the result of this chemistry, according to Coles, has been the key to the program's total development.
"Frankie is a great all-around coach, who can effectively teach the game," said Coles. "He was a great high school coach and knows the importance of being a teacher of the game. During his time at Miami, he has been a valuable asset to our program."
Smith, who posted a 125-35 (.781) career record during his six-year stint as the head coach at Tug Valley High School in Naugatuck, W.Va., guided the 1998-99 Panthers to West Virginia's Class AA state championship. It was the school's first state crown. Tug Valley finished with a school-record 24 wins (24-2) in `98-99.
For his efforts, Smith was named the West Virginia Class AA Coach of the Year, as well as the Williamson Daily News Coach of the Year. He also was selected as the coach of the state's Class A-AA all-star team.
In 1996-97, Tug Valley reached the semifinals of the West Virginia State Tournament. That was the first year the school had advanced past the quarterfinals.
Smith graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in the fall of 1988 with a bachelor of science degree in physical education, a minor in history and a teaching certification for secondary education.
Smith and his wife, Jill, who is a 2006 Miami University graduate, have a daughter, Madison (15).
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