TicketsGeorge Smith |
- Four-year letterwinner in football as a rugged tackle.
- Earned All-Ohio honors as a junior.
- Credited with wearing a fore-runner of the modern face mask when he donned a device to help protect his broken nose.
- Returned to UC as assistant football coach in 1948.
- Asked to coach the freshmen basketball team in 1948 and became a varsity assistant.
- Named head basketball coach in 1952, beginning an eight-year tenure in which he compiled a 154-56 record (.733).
- His UC basketball teams won three Missouri Valley Conference titles and made five postseason tournament appearances.
- Directed UC to the NCAA Final Four in 1959 and 1960.
- Recruited and coached Oscar Robertson, three-time national scoring champion and consensus national Player of the Year.
- Became athletics director following the 1959-60 season, where he oversaw continued success of UC basketball--national titles in 1961 and 1962--plus growth of the Bearcat sports program.
- Became Assistant Vice President for Development in 1973 and made major inroads in UC[apos]s success to increase its financial base.
- UC Athletic Hall of Fame 1978.