Former Brevard Community College Basketball Coach, Space Coast Sports Hall of Famer Passes Away at Age 83
By Space Coast Daily // February 17, 2025
Don Smith passed away at the age of 83 in Montana
ABOVE VIDEO: Former Brevard Community College men’s basketball coach Don Smith took over the program in 1985 and immediately turned it around, winning 21 games in his first season. (Video first aired in 2020)
ABOVE VIDEO: Coach Don Smith’s Acceptance Speech for Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Induction in 2020.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA—Former Eastern Florida State College men’s basketball coach and Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame inductee Don Smith passed away recently in Montana at 83.
Smith was the head coach for Brevard Community College, now Eastern Florida State College, for 14 seasons and accumulated 288 wins.
He won two state championships with Brevard Community College, and in the 1999-2000 season, the team made the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament, finishing 1-2.
Smith was named the state coach of the year twice and had seven 20-win seasons. He finished with a .610 winning percentage and averaged 19.2 wins per season.
In 1996, he was named to the Florida College System Activities Association Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.
He was also the athletic director at Brevard Community College and was instrumental in bringing National AAU basketball to Florida’s Space Coast.
The Indiana native also coached at the University of New Orleans for 12 seasons before coming to Brevard County and was an assistant coach at Georgia Southern from 1971 to 1973.
“Coach Don Smith was one of the most outstanding basketball coaches to every coach at Brevard Community College, and I have watched them all,” said Tom Wasdin, a prominent Brevard businessman, former coach at Jacksonville University, and fellow Space Coast Sports Hall of Famer.
“He also was instrumental in bringing National AAU basketball to Florida’s Space Coast. As athletic director, he was very helpful in preventing BCC from dropping all sports teams. I also had the privilege of sitting with him on the beach during the Junior College State and National Junior College tournaments. He was a fine gentleman and friend.”
Smith is survived by his wife, Vera Smith, and his children, Brennen Smith of North Carolina, Rebecca Fortier of Washington, and Everett Fortier of Florida.
Smith took over the Brevard Community College program in 1985 and immediately turned it around, winning 21 games in his first season.
In his second season at the helm, he won 28 games, including a state championship, and was named the state coach of the year.
It would be the first of two state championships Smith won with Brevard Community College.
Overall, he finished with 288 wins at Brevard Community College, the second-most in program history, and had a career winning percentage of .610, averaging 19.2 wins per season.
“To be inducted into this Hall of Fame is the ultimate honor for any coach,” Smith said in his Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame video address in 2020.
“I share this honor with my assistant coaches and with the many wonderful players that I have had the pleasure to coach here and throughout my career.”
In his final season with Brevard Community College, Smith set a then-program record with 29 wins and his second state tournament championship in the 1999-2000 season.
The team advanced to the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament for the first time since 1979 and finished 1-2 in the tournament.
In his 14 seasons, the Montana resident was named the state coach of the year twice and had seven 20-win seasons at Brevard Community College.
Smith was also the athletic director at then-Brevard Community College and led the women’s basketball program to a state tournament berth during his time in Melbourne.
Before coming to Brevard County, he spent 12 seasons at the University of New Orleans, finishing as the head men’s basketball coach and assistant athletic director. He was also an assistant coach at Georgia Southern from 1971 to 1973.
