WATCH: Former Brevard Community College Basketball Coach Don Smith to Be Inducted in Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame
By Space Coast Daily // May 18, 2025
accumulated 288 wins OVER 14 seasons
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.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame selection committee announced that the 2025 induction ceremony will occur on Saturday, May 24, at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne. This will be the first in-person induction since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. To make a reservation for the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-323-4460. CLICK HERE to see the 2025 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Class.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA—Former Eastern Florida State College men’s basketball coach Don Smith, who passed away last year in Montana at 83, will be inducted into the 2025 Class of the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame.
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.
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THE 2025 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME Banquet and Induction Ceremony will occur at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne on Saturday, May 24. FOR INFORMATION about the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame, or to make a reservation, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-615-8111.
CLICK HERE TO SEE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME
The 2025 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner and ceremony is sponsored by Health First and presented by Tom and Suzie Wasdin
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA—The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame selection committee announced that the 2025 induction ceremony will occur on Saturday, May 24, at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne. This will be the first in-person induction since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner and ceremony, sponsored by Health First and presented by Tom and Suzie Wasdin, will be held on the evening of May 24. The Meet-and-Greet will begin at 6 p.m., and dinner and the program will start at 7 p.m.
Tom and Suzie Wasdin are longtime Brevard County entrepreneurs, community supporters, and philanthropists. Tom, an NCAA Final Four basketball coach and Brevard Sports Ambassador, was inducted into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
The meet-and-greet will include an opportunity to talk with the area’s sports royalty. Dinner and the induction proceeding, which will include compelling video tributes to each inductee, will follow.
The Brevard County High School Breakfast of Champions recognition awards will be held Saturday, May 24, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., also at Eastern Florida State College.
During the Breakfast of Champions, more than 40 awards will be presented to the best of the 2024-2025 male and female high school student-athletes in each sport. For sponsorship information, call 321-323-4460 or e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com.
Both the Breakfast of Champions and the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame events will be streamed live on Space Coast Daily TV.
Health First, Erdman Automotive, Eastern Florida State College, All Points, Clear Choice Health Care, Brevard Public Schools, Space Coast Office of Tourism, EDC of the Space Coast, 4Ever Young Merritt Island, and Savings Safari sponsor the 2025 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction event and the Brevard County High School Breakfast of Champions recognition awards.
To make a reservation for the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-323-4460.
INDUCTEES SELECTED IN FOUR CATEGORIES
Nominees are chosen in four categories: professional sports, college sports, high school sports, and amateur sports. Special honorary recognition is also bestowed upon individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to sports on the Space Coast.
SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2025
■ PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Jamel Dean, Football; Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Wrestling; Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Football; Randy Pobst, Auto racing; Juwaan Taylor, Football
■ COLLEGE CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Paulette King, Basketball, Dylan Lewis, Soccer; Steve Freeman, Soccer; Bryan Cook, Baseball
■ PREP CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Lexy Denaburg, Volleyball; Andi Sellers, Soccer; Kaira Simmons, Track & Field; Jayvan Boggs, Football
■ AMATEUR/RECREATION CATEGORY INDUCTEE: Alli Penovich, Free Diving; Peter Blount, Track & Field; Caylor Williams, Wrestling
■ COACHING CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Doug Butler, Cross Country and Track; Gerald Hodgin, Football; Jim Oler, Basketball; Don Smith, Basketball
• SPORTS OFFICIAL INDUCTEES: Ted Ruta
• SPORTS JOURNALISM INDUCTEES: Steve Vaughn
• SPORTS DEVELOPMENT INDUCTEE: Loren McClanahan
■ LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT INDUCTEES: Larry Garrison, Clint Hurdle
■ SPORTS AMBASSADOR AWARD INDUCTEE: Rusty Buchanan
■ CHALLENGER AWARD INDUCTEE: Joshua Dillon
■ TEAM OF THE YEAR: Cocoa Tigers Football
■ LEGACY CHAMPIONS: Merritt Island Baseball, 1999-2000
■ SPECIAL TRIBUTE: Tim Wakefield
Space Coast Daily created the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and has inducted over 200 of Brevard County’s most outstanding athletes, coaches, and sports personalities. Eastern Florida State’s Titan Fieldhouse on the Melbourne Campus hosts the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame. Portraits of the Hall of Famers are displayed on the wall in the building’s main hallway, which runs parallel to the gym and outside the athletic department offices.
To make a reservation for the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-323-4460.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME
SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Tim Wakefield talks about his induction into the first class of the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame. Space Coast Daily created the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and has so far inducted more than 200 of Brevard County’s most outstanding athletes, coaches, and sports personalities.
