Frankie Smith is entering his fifthseason as head coach at Saginaw Valley and is looking to build onthe successes of the 2010-11 season. Smith helpguide the Cardinals back to the GLIAC postseason for the first timesince the 1998-99 season as he selected as GLIAC “Coach ofthe Year” after the SVSU finished the season with a 16-12record, the most since 1997 season.
In the 2008-09 season, he led theCardinals to a 9-17 overall record, which included a 9-13 mark inthe GLIAC. In the 2007-08 season, the team was 12-14 overallwith a 7-11 record in conference play.
He was hired as the seventh headmen’s basketball coach at Saginaw Valley State University onAugust 28. 2007. Smith came to SVSU after serving as an assistantcoach at Miami University (Ohio) since April 1999.
Smith helped build Miami University into a national success story,as the RedHawks had five-straight Mid-American ConferenceTournament byes, the only MAC school to do so over the past fiveyears. In addition, the RedHawks won a MAC Regular SeasonChampionship in 2005 and a MAC Tournament Championship in 2007.Miami University has made three-straight postseason appearances,with NIT bids in 2005 and 2006 and an NCAA bid in 2007.
Prior to Miami University, Smith posted a 125-35 (.781) careerrecord during his six-year stint as the head coach at Tug ValleyHigh School in Naugatuck, West Virginia. He guided the 1998-99Panthers to West Virginia’s Class AA state championship,which was the school’s first state crown.
For his efforts, Smith was named the West Virginia Class AA "Coachof the Year", as well as the Williamson Daily News "Coach of theYear". He was selected as the coach of the state’s Class A-AAall-star team.
Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and aminor in History from Eastern Kentucky University in 1988.
He and his wife, Jill, have daughter,Madison, who is currently in her junior year at SVSU.
