Former teammates and players rally around Curtis Smith

By Jim Muir

Love, friendship, support and basketball will be on display at Rich Herrin Gymnasium in Benton on June 2 to honor and lend help to a former player and coach who has touched many lives.

As a high school and collegiate basketball standout back in the 1980s Curtis Smith was known for his work ethic, team play, tenacity and will to win.  Later as a coach he was known as a ‘player’s coach’ who instilled a team-first attitude and developed a never-ending bond with his players.

Facing a different type of opponent these days, the 56-year-old Smith is using those same qualities in the fight of his life. Smith, a lifelong Benton resident, was diagnosed with colon cancer in October 2015 and has undergone extensive chemo and radiation treatment. He has recently experienced some setbacks and is currently a patient at Barnes Hospital, in St. Louis.

Curtis Smith and grandson Axton.

Former teammates and players have rallied around Smith to lend support to his cause. Leading that effort is Rex Roberts, who played for Smith at Ewing-Northern Grade School, located in northeast Franklin County. Roberts organized a three-on-three basketball tournament that will be held on June 2.

Roberts said his idea to start the fundraiser for Smith was simply a way to “give back” to a coach and person that has unselfishly given much time and energy to many.

“Coach Smith was always there for me and for his players,” Roberts said. “I moved to Ewing before my eighth grade year and he came to my house and invited me to open gym. He was always the same guy, through my high school years when I would see him and then years later he was always the same person. He is just a genuine good person.”

Roberts said the decision for what type of fundraiser was an easy one.

“Nobody loves basketball more than Coach Smith,” said Roberts. “It’s a great way to play or just enjoy a day of competitive basketball action and help raise money for a great family. It’s a way for the community to give back and help a person that helped many.”

Smith played for legendary coach Rich Herrin, who recalled him as a player who worked hard develop his skills. Herrin said Smith was a key cog on a very talented 1980 team that advanced to the Sweet 16.

Herrin said he fondly remembers those days when Smith was hitting long-range jumpers on a “special team” that advanced to the Carbondale Super Sectional where they lost to eventual state runner-up Okawville. Smith was a senior starter on that team with Jim Labuwi, Steve Shurtz, Kent Yancik and Jerry Corn.

“Curtis is what I would call a self-made player,” Herrin recalled. “He didn’t play basketball in junior high but when he started playing his freshmen year he fell in love with the game of basketball. He was the first one in the gym and the last one to leave. You had to run him off to get him out of the gym but he was a joy to coach.”

Smith went on play at Rend Lake College where he flourished and continued to improve his game. He ranks in the top five of all-time scorers at the Ina-based community college and was inducted into the RLC Sports Hall of Fame.

Herrin said he’s not surprised that Smith’s basketball success continued after high school.

“He was dedicated about improving his game and I was not surprised to see him continue to have success at the college level,” said Herrin. “I know that the young men at Ewing and Benton were fortunate to have Curtis as their coach.”

Linda Smith, Curtis’ wife, said her family has been “overwhelmed” by the show of support during a very difficult time.

“We’re all just amazed at the kindness that people have shown to our family,” she said. “Even though many of them are grown men now, Curtis still thinks of his former

Curtis Smith during his playing days at Rend Lake College.

players as his boys. They will always be his boys.”

Steve Shurtz, the starting point guard on the 1980 Benton team, said Smith was an exceptional teammate.

“He was just a good all-around player, he played hard, hustled all the time, was a team-player, very unselfish and he hated to lose,” said Shurtz. “He just loved to play basketball, he would play in the gym at lunch, pickup games at old Douglas School and open gym in the summer – he was always there. Curtis just worked hard to be the very best basketball player that he could be.”

Shurtz recalled that he and Smith played on the same team through high school, shared rides to Rend Lake College after high school and then while in college, worked together on their first part-time summer job and often fished and hunted together. Aside from all those connections, Shurtz said there is another part of Smith’s life that stood out the most.

Curtis and Linda Smith with grandson Axton.

“The thing I admire most about Curtis is that he is a great family man, a terrific husband and father and a tremendous role model for all the young men he coached,” said Shurtz. “He has a strong faith in God and family with a great support group. I have faith he can beat this terrible disease. I am proud to be a part of Team Smith.”

The daylong event will kick off at Rich Herrin Gym at 9 a.m. with a 3-on-3 Tournament where more than 30 teams will participate. Lunch, sponsored by Uncle Joe’s B-B-Q, will be available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost will be $7 for adults and $5 for children with all the proceeds going to help the Smith Family. A special ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m. to recognize Curtis Smith, the teams involved and also to honor and recognize all the cancer fighters and survivors in attendance.

Roberts encouraged all cancer survivors and their families to attend the event.

“This is a really important part of the day and we want to get as many cancer survivors as possible in attendance,” Roberts said. “We are going to have some speakers and honor all those that have been impacted by cancer. I believe it will add the exclamation point to the day.”

Anybody needing more information on this special day of basketball and friendship can contact Rex Roberts at 618-218-3314.