Jamal Smith - Men's Basketball Director of Operations - Men's Basketball Coaches

Jamal Smith

Title:
Men's Basketball Director of Operations
Email:
jsmit280@calpoly.edu

Bringing championship experience as a player and staff member from two Division I programs, Jamal Smith is in his first season as an assistant coach with the Cal Poly men’s basketball program.

The son of head coach John Smith, Jamal Smith served as Cal Poly’s director of operations last year after occupying the same position with Montana State during the 2021-22 season. He also played under Smith as a graduate guard with Cal Poly (2019-20) and while his father was the associate head coach at Cal State Fullerton (2015-19).

“Needless to say, I’m really excited about Jamal’s addition to our staff. He showed his ability to multitask last year, handling our director of operations position and stepping in to an assistant coaching position following some unforeseen circumstances,” John Smith said. “Our players naturally gravitated toward him and his presence was felt immediately. His previous experience with Montana State and playing overseas has prepared him for this. He’s a tireless worker, a detailed skill developer and a natural connector. His IQ and knowledge of the game should help our point guards a great deal. We feel he’s just scratched the surface of how impactful he will be as we move forward.”

As Cal Poly’s director of operations for the 2022-23 season, Smith was tasked with mentoring the program’s point guards in addition to travel management and arrangement, practice scheduling and supervision of support staff, including managers.

With Montana State during the 2021-22 season, Smith handled scouting and film work, player development, travel coordination and financial reporting. Working with the program’s point guards, Smith helped Montana State to a 27-8 overall record, the 2022 Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament titles and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 26 years.

As a player, Smith transferred to Cal Poly for his 2019-20 graduate season. He started in 22 of 30 appearances and averaged 6.7 points per game. He then signed with Armenia Basketball League A club Vahakni City for the 2020-21 season before accepting the Montana State operations position.

Graduating from Cal State Fullerton in May 2019 with a kinesiology degree, Smith appeared in all 34 games for the Titans during the 2018-19 season and averaged 19.1 minutes per outing for a squad that finished second in the Big West standings and reached the conference tournament championship game for a second straight season. He scored in all but eight games during his final year as a Titan.

Smith appeared in all 32 games with 18 starts for the 2017-18 Cal State Fullerton squad that captured the Big West Tournament title and faced Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

He debuted at Cal State Fullerton during the 2016-17 season, appearing in 20 games. Smith redshirted the year prior during his first season on campus.

A four-year letterwinner at Rancho Verde HS (Moreno Valley, Calif.), Smith averaged 19.0 points and 5.0 assists per game as a senior to earn All-Inland Valley League honors.