- Name
- Will Smethers
- Position
- Guard
- Class
- Freshman
- Hometown (Last School)
- Middletown, OH (High)
- Ht
- 6'2"
- Wt
- 180
- Seasons
- 1947-48
- Birthday
- April 8, 1927
Will Smethers was born Willis Alven Smethers on April 8, 1927, in Middletown, Ohio, to Guy and Ruth Smethers.
He attended Middletown High School, where he helped the Middies win their first Ohio State Basketball Championship in 1944. Smethers led the Middies in scoring as they won the ’44 title. He had 22 points on 11 shots from the field in the 38-34 victory over Martins Ferry in the semifinals and came back with 15 the following evening in a 50-47 Middie victory in the finals against Toledo Woodward. The following year, he helped the Middies edge out Canton McKinley, 29-28, in the semifinals played at the Toledo Fieldhouse, but lost to Bellevue, 36-34, in the finals. Smethers scored 14 points in the two games. Both years, he was named to the all-tournament team. During Smethers’ junior and senior years at Middletown High the Middies lost only one game each season and won 24 each year. He graduated in 1945.
He enlisted in the Army after high school, where he served two years for his country in Germany. He enrolled at Kentucky in 1947 for his freshman season.
The 1947–48 Wildcats, coached by Adolph Rupp, had an impressive season, finishing with a 36–3 record and securing the NCAA championship by defeating Baylor 58–42 in the final. While Smethers was part of this championship-winning team.
In 1949, he transferred to Bowling Green State, where he was a three-year letterman before graduating in 1952 with a bachelor of arts in education.
Smethers was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame and the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame.
He died on December 23, 2001, in Cape Coral, Florida, at the age of 74.
