Bryant Smith returns to Auburn to prepare 'younger Tigers' for life beyond basketball

AUBURN – It’s been 8,639 days since Bryant Smith shook the Auburn world with one of the most historic dunks in the history of the program.

Under former coach Cliff Ellis, Auburn was in the midst of a special run towards the SEC regular season championship when the third-ranked Tigers hosted a formidable Ole Miss team for a midweek showdown televised nationally by ESPN on February 9, 1999.

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Auburn opened the game on a 20-4 run that was culminated in a Doc Robinson half-court pass to Smith, who finished the reverse alley-oop dunk and blew the roof off Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum. ESPN commentator Larry Connelly called the dunk, yelling over the raucous crowd, “oh what a dunk! Over the head!” The Tigers went on to beat the Rebels by 29 points that night.

(If you’ve never seen the opening six minutes of this game, do yourself a favor and watch. It’s one of the best six minutes of basketball ever seen at Auburn.)

Smith still smiles when asked about that play. How can he not? When Smith joined the Auburn basketball staff this summer, the Auburn athletics media team made sure the current players were aware of Smith’s athletic prowess.

“The young guys were giving me grief about it. They’ve taken it in stride. ‘Hey old man, I didn’t know you could do that?’ It comes with respect,” Bryant told Auburn Live. “They know I was in the trenches as well, the same trenches they’re in. They understand I’ve been there before. I feel that’s why I’m here. It’s not as much about X’s and O’s, it’s about developing them as young men, or Auburn men.”

That last sentence is key. It’s why Smith returned to Auburn.

Smith was a four-year letterwinner and team captain at Auburn from 1996-99 under former head coach Cliff Ellis. Known for his defense and leadership, he helped the Tigers claim their second-ever SEC regular-season championship title, compile a 29-4 overall record and earn a No. 2 national ranking in 1999. During his junior campaign, he was named SEC Player of the Week and led Auburn in three statistical categories averaging a career-best 13.3 points and 2.4 steals per game. Smith also shot 50.6 percent from the field.

After a 14-year professional career overseas, he returned to his hometown of Huntsville, Ala., and founded the Winning Foundation, a non-profit helping disadvantaged and at-risk kids.

Smith knows basketball, but his desire to mentor young men was the driving force behind joining Bruce Pearl’s staff.

“I have more knowledge and wisdom about the game to pour into the younger Tigers. I want to help them become an Auburn man. That’s the biggest piece to all of this. I want to make sure they are successful when they walk off the court,” he said.

Smith stayed in contact with former Auburn player and current staffer Marquis Daniels over the years. When the opportunity arose to join the staff, Daniels recruited Smith and helped make the connection with Pearl.

“We’re a basketball school now,” Smith said reminiscing on the 20-plus years that have passed since his team’s SEC championship. “I never fathomed this is what we would be 20 years later.”

The realization that he’s part of the Auburn basketball coaching staff, and part of a coaching staff leading one of the hottest basketball programs in the country right now, hasn’t quite sunk in with Smith. But in all honesty, Smith’s mission goes far beyond coaching titles and professional resumes.

“My main focus is the young men. Helping them on and off the court. When I was here, I made plenty of mistakes, and through life as well. Taking those mistakes and helping a young man becoming conscious of how to be, how to carry yourself. We all want to be successful.

“The game doesn’t always have the opportunity for us afterwards, so what will you do? What type of man are you? Can you communicate? Do you have empathy? Do you have integrity? Those things matter and will carry you through life.”