When a coach takes on the responsibilities of running a college basketball program, he or she knows the responsibilities extend way past the sport itself.
And John A. Smith Jr., who was recently hired as the men’s basketball coach at Huston-Tillotson University in East Austin, wouldn’t have it any other way.
“To be a college head coach, it’s a culmination of all the experiences I’ve had changing lives,” Smith told the Statesman on Wednesday. “A lot of people don’t realize that games are the easy part. But each child is a job. Academics, emotions, financial situations … every young man has a different situation, and we’re here to help them handle all those situations.”
Smith, a native of New Orleans, will serve in his first head coaching job at the collegiate level. He spent last season as an assistant at New Mexico State, and his coaching travels include stops at his alma mater of Northwestern State in Louisiana, Texas A&M, Incarnate Word in San Antonio and multiple high schools in Texas, including prep powerhouses such as Arlington Seguin and San Antonio Wagner as well as the head jobs at Northeast and Manor.
Huston-Tillotson athletic director Thomas Henderson, who has spent the previous decade as the Rams’ head basketball coach, also pointed out the benefits of Smith’s AAU and junior-college connections that stretch across the country. Smith has spent more than two decades coaching in the collegiate and high school ranks.
“He’s adept at scouting talent from the national junior college scene and the transfer portal, maintaining strong connections with prep schools across Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and New England,” Henderson said. “His appointment heralds the start of an exciting new era for the program under his leadership and visionary guidance.”
In his two years spent as a head high school coach in the Austin area, Smith led Northeast to the second round of the playoffs in 2022 before spending one season at Manor in the 2022-23 school year. Those stops left a deep impression on Smith, making the opportunity at Huston-Tillotson particularly attractive, he said.
“I fell in love with the community,” Smith said. “The churches, the community services, the history of Huston-Tillotson and how entrenched it is with the community here. I am looking forward to being an ambassador for a great school.”
Originally founded in 1875 to serve Black students during Reconstruction, Huston-Tillotson is the oldest university in Austin and has deep roots in Austin’s Black community even as gentrification has dramatically changed East Austin’s demographics over the past two decades.
Smith said he wants to do his part to “bring people back to HT” through his program, which has just one winning season over the past decade. The Rams went 8-20 last season, and Smith thinks this year’s team could surprise some opponents. But he also knows turning the Rams into perennial winners requires a process that will take more than one season.
“This first year is about establishing the building blocks, the culture and my coaching philosophy,” he said. “I want to model the hard work and consistency it takes to win, and I want to instill a playing style that will entertain the fans and make HT proud.”
Huston-Tillotson, an NAIA athletic program that competes in the Red River Athletic Conference, will open its season at the HBCU Classic Nov. 8-9 at the Austin Convention Center. Philander Smith College and Wiley College will also compete in the two-day event.
Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer.
