The Yard
Kentucky State University
Basketball Great
Alfred Smith
Article first appeared in the State Journal on October 10, 2017
By Brian Rickerd
Contributing writer
LOUISVILLE — Alfred Smith wears a smile as seemingly broad as the Grand Canyon on and away from his home base here at Southern High School, where he’s a substitute teacher and assistant basketball coach.
Smith’s joy isn’t because he’s a high-powered executive awash in glittering possessions. Though Smith feels rich.
No, the genesis of Smith’s joy is that he survived a childhood where many do not, growing up in Louisville’s Cotter Homes Housing Project, all because of his mother, Daisy Mae Smith, and a mentor named John McLendon.
McLendon is a former basketball coach at Kentucky State University, who pioneered the fast break back in the 1960s, at KSU and other places.
It’s those two influences, along with thoughts of hundreds of kids whom 57-year-old Alfred has touched in his own adult life, that will dominate his thoughts on Oct. 20th when Smith receives two remarkable honors.
At 11 that morning, Smith will be recognized at Churchill Downs by the Louisville Defender newspaper at a Business & Professional Achievement Recognition Luncheon, primarily for his community service working with kids.
That evening, Smith will be inducted, with five others, into Kentucky State’s 2017 Hall of Fame class at a 6 p.m. banquet at KSU’s student center ballroom.
‘It’s a brotherhood’
Smith was a standout basketball player at KSU from 1978-82, averaging some 15 points and 12 rebounds per game for the Thorobreds in four years. He’s eighth on the school’s all-time scoring list and 12th in rebounding.
But Smith said it isn’t statistics such as those that he enjoyed the most.
“I was one of those players who always had a smile on the court,” Smith said of a playing career that included three years of professional basketball overseas. “I always had fun, sharing the camaraderie with my teammates. It’s a brotherhood you never forget.”
And it’s a brotherhood Smith has tried to convey to the hundreds of kids he’s worked with in his adult life, around Louisville and beyond. “I’m excited, and my wife (Wina) is excited, but most of all, I would love for the kids to see it,” Smith said of his upcoming honors. “That would mean everything to me. Because I want kids to see there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Click here to read the entire article
By Brian Rickerd
Contributing writer
LOUISVILLE — Alfred Smith wears a smile as seemingly broad as the Grand Canyon on and away from his home base here at Southern High School, where he’s a substitute teacher and assistant basketball coach.
Smith’s joy isn’t because he’s a high-powered executive awash in glittering possessions. Though Smith feels rich.
No, the genesis of Smith’s joy is that he survived a childhood where many do not, growing up in Louisville’s Cotter Homes Housing Project, all because of his mother, Daisy Mae Smith, and a mentor named John McLendon.
McLendon is a former basketball coach at Kentucky State University, who pioneered the fast break back in the 1960s, at KSU and other places.
It’s those two influences, along with thoughts of hundreds of kids whom 57-year-old Alfred has touched in his own adult life, that will dominate his thoughts on Oct. 20th when Smith receives two remarkable honors.
At 11 that morning, Smith will be recognized at Churchill Downs by the Louisville Defender newspaper at a Business & Professional Achievement Recognition Luncheon, primarily for his community service working with kids.
That evening, Smith will be inducted, with five others, into Kentucky State’s 2017 Hall of Fame class at a 6 p.m. banquet at KSU’s student center ballroom.
‘It’s a brotherhood’
Smith was a standout basketball player at KSU from 1978-82, averaging some 15 points and 12 rebounds per game for the Thorobreds in four years. He’s eighth on the school’s all-time scoring list and 12th in rebounding.
But Smith said it isn’t statistics such as those that he enjoyed the most.
“I was one of those players who always had a smile on the court,” Smith said of a playing career that included three years of professional basketball overseas. “I always had fun, sharing the camaraderie with my teammates. It’s a brotherhood you never forget.”
And it’s a brotherhood Smith has tried to convey to the hundreds of kids he’s worked with in his adult life, around Louisville and beyond. “I’m excited, and my wife (Wina) is excited, but most of all, I would love for the kids to see it,” Smith said of his upcoming honors. “That would mean everything to me. Because I want kids to see there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Click here to read the entire article