Mark Smith Beloit College ’81
Record: 78-19, 2x Midwest Conference Champs, 3x NCAA DIII Playoff Team
Player: 1977-1981
Assistant Coach: 1983-85
Basketball has been a part of my life for almost half of a century. Beloit College basketball was an integral part of my shaping my career.
Winning, winning, winning… that’s all I cared about, and that was a driving force in my college search. Bill Knapton and the Beloit Bucs had a winning formula and I was excited to join a great program. The teams I played on won at an 80% clip, and with like-minded teammates who were willing to work hard and share the ball made it fun also. Every team I was fortunate to play on at Beloit were committed to winning and there was never any egos involved. This culture was present when I arrived and were obviously formed by our coach, Bill Knapton. Is it possible to express how fun it was to play the game you love? As an intense competitor, it drove me to become the best I could be and to be the best teammate I could possible be. Even playing in high school and being the MVP and leading scorer on my team, I would always express to my parents, I don’t care how many points I score as long as we win.
At Beloit, being a good teammate and being part of a good team was paramount of importance. Balanced scoring and all five members having a part in our success drove me as a player. Playing for coach Knapton made it easy to share the ball and to share our success. Bill’s offense – we called it the “Passing Game”- was a 5-out motion offense with no traditional post. Bill picked up the Passing Game from Digger Phelps at Notre Dame. One of my teammates during my first two years was Mark Hanzlik, who was from Beloit and I believe went to Memorial. Mark’s younger brother is Bill Hanzlik, who played for Digger at Notre Dame. I guess that’s how it developed. Rather than running set plays, the Passing Game required you to be able to read the defense and react accordingly. In my opinion, it is a beautiful offense that requires smart basketball players to make split second decisions. As a coach, I have maintained this philosophy: sharing the ball and the ability to read defenses in order to develop smart basketball players, which I credit to Bill.
I was going to college to play basketball and I came to Beloit because of Bill Knapton. It was either play ball in college or go to the University of Illinois. My dream of playing DI never materialized, so I soon realized I was going to have to play at a DIII school. I had a shoebox full of recruiting letters, and I narrowed my search with visits to Beloit, Lawrence, Carroll, and Augustana. Good schools and good coaches at each, but Bill was easily the most humble and classiest coach of the bunch. I was a good student at Elk Grove High School in the Chicagoland area and I wasn’t too picky about the various schools and their academic standards. It could have been Harvard or UW-Rock County, I was going to college to play basketball and get a degree…in that order.
Going to Beloit was one of the best decisions of my life. Playing basketball with great friends, meeting my future wife, being ranked the #1 team in the nation my senior year, student teaching in England, being elected into the Hall of Honor…really great memories. Having a Beloit education gave me an edge in every aspect of my life, especially in my career. My liberal arts background allowed me to think I was always one of the most well-rounded and empathetic people in the room.
Fire up, Bucs!
Mark P. Smith, Beloit College Athletic Hall of Honor
- Class: 1981
- Induction: 1991
- Sport(s): Men's Basketball
Mark Smith was an unselfish basketball forward who was at his best in the big game. A four-year starter who helped the Buccaneers win 78 games while losing only 19, Beloit’s “Mr. Everything” earned NCAA Division III all-American honors and became its second all-time leading scorer with 1,381 points. He was a team player who at 6-foot-5 led the Bucs in both scoring and boarding his last two years; he never shot less than 50 percent from the field in any season, and he finished with 709 rebounds. During his career, Beloit captured two Midwest Conference championships and participated in three national regional tournaments. As a senior, Smith padded the Bucs to a 24-2 mark for an all-time school record .923 percentage and to a ranking as the nation’s top Division III club for five consecutive weeks. His outstanding efforts also won him all-Midwest District recognition from the National Association of Basketball Coaches, all-conference selection and team MVP honors. An assistant to his former coach, Bill Knapton, while completing an M.A.T. degree at Beloit, Smith now teaches mathematics and serves as head basketball coach at Ridgewood High School in Norridge, Illinois.
