Chris Smith (basketball, born 1939)

Chris Smith (born March 31, 1939) starred in basketball at Virginia Tech from 1957 to 1961. He was nicknamed "Moose" at Charleston High School in West Virginia where he played as a 6-foot-6 center during an era of exceptional local talent in what was then known as the Kanawha Valley.[1][2] Smith was later dubbed "the human pogo stick" by former Roanoke sportswriter Bill Brill.[3]

Chris Smith
Personal information
Born (1939-03-31) March 31, 1939
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Career information
High schoolCharleston
(Charleston, West Virginia)
CollegeVirginia Tech (1957–1961)
NBA draft1961 / Round: 2 / Pick: 14th overall
Selected by the Syracuse Nationals
PositionCenter
Career highlights and awards

Refusal of NBA Draft

During the 1961 NBA Draft, Smith was the highest draft choice for any Virginia Tech basketball player ever when he was selected as the fourteenth overall choice by the NBA's Syracuse Nationals.[4]

Since playing professional basketball was not financially lucrative in 1961, Smith reportedly informed the NBA teams that he would not play professional basketball, and asked them not to draft him. He never reported to Syracuse camp. [5]

Awards and records

In 1982, Smith was the only basketball player inducted as a charter member to Virginia Tech's Hall-of-Fame. [6]

Smith still holds many Virginia Tech rebounding records: game (36); season (495); career (1508); season per-game average (20.4); and career per-game average (17.1).[7] Smith is the state of Virginia's NCAA Division I leader in career average rebounds per game of all time.[3]

He is still ranked 26th nationally for career average rebounds per game (17.1) and 24th nationally for total career rebounds (1508) as listed all-time for Division I players by the Official 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book.[8] His career average rebound record of 17.1 rebounds per game is the current record for the State of Virginia.[9]

In addition, Smith has the Southern Conference Tournament rebounding records of 28 rebounds for a single game and 71 rebounds for three games.[9] These records were established in 1960 and have been the Southern Conference Tournament rebounding records for more than 50 years.

Reputation and coverage

According to the 2009–10 Virginia Tech basketball program, Smith "is regarded by many as the greatest basketball player in school history." In 2010, he was chosen to represent the Hokies at the annual 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament's Legends Class.[2][10] In 2010, ESPN selected Chris Smith as the "Best Player" in the history of the Virginia Tech Basketball program. [11]

In 1959, Chris Smith was a First Team All-Southern Conference Selection. In 1960, he was a unanimous 1960 First Team All-Southern Conference Selection along with Jerry West. In 1961, Smith was the captain of the All-Southern Conference team.[9] In 1960, he was selected as a Converse Second Team All-American.

Sports Illustrated featured the Virginia Tech basketball team on December 26, 1960. That issue stated the following:

Clearly the best performer on the floor was Tech's 6-foot-6 center Chris Smith, who scored 24 points and had 21 rebounds. The next night he led Tech to an 81-54 victory over Baylor and was chosen as the Classic's most valuable player. He is a square-jawed, crew-cut battler whose sheer strength and spring will surely bring him All-American honors this year. [12]

Frequent news articles still appear that document events during Smith's playing career such as Jennings Culley's July 22, 2001 article in the Richmond Times titled "Tech Basketball Recruits said 'Noe' to West Virginia";[13] Jack Bogaczyk's February 25, 2009 article about the second college basketball game in the Charleston Civic Center between Marshall and Virginia Tech;[14] and MSN Sports November 16, 2008 article about Chuck Noe's successful basketball recruiting in West Virginia for Virginia Tech during the 1950s.[1]

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See also

References
General
  1. NBA Draft History 1961
  2. Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame
  3. NCAA 2009-10 Official Men's Basketball Records Book
  4. SI Vault
Specific
  1. John Antonik (November 16, 2008). "Golden Memories: 50th Anniversary of the 1959 Season". Mountaineer Sports Network. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  2. Sports Staff Writers (January 27, 2010). "Charleston's Smith named Hokie Legend by the ACC". Charleston Daily Mail. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  3. Markon, John (October 11, 2007). "Catching Up With Chris Smith". Richmond Times Dispatch. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  4. "NBA Draft History 1961". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  5. "Many good players dot Virginia Tech basketball history". Pulaski Southwest Times. February 14, 1982. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  6. "Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame". hokiesports.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  7. "Virginia Tech 2018-19 Basketball Media Guide" (PDF).
  8. "2009-10 NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book" (PDF). NCAA.org. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  9. Smith, Chris (2006). It's More Than Just Winning!. Chris Smith Publishing. ISBN 1-4243-0508-X.
  10. "ACC Announces the 2010 Men's Basketball Tournament Legends". Archived from the original on January 23, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  11. ESPN (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. ESPN. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  12. Schardt, Arlie W. (December 26, 1960). "Chuck Noe vs. the South". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  13. Jennings Culley (July 22, 2001). "Tech basketball recruits said 'Noe' to West Virginia". Richmond Times Dispatch. p. D9.
  14. >Jack Bogaczyk (February 2, 2009). "VPI's Smith, Marshall's Williams played key rols in arena's second college game". Charleston Daily Mail.
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