{"id":54570,"date":"2019-03-19T16:20:11","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T20:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=54570"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:03:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:03:35","slug":"dave-smart-bench-moves","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/dave-smart-bench-moves\/","title":{"rendered":"Moves Behind the Bench"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Moves Behind the Bench\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

The head coach behind the bench of North America\u2019s most successful university basketball dynasty is moving on to a new leadership role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carleton University\u2019s Dave Smart<\/a>, who has led the Carleton Ravens men\u2019s basketball team to 14 national championships over the last 17 seasons, accepted the position of Director, Basketball Operations, and will be responsible for developing both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs and continuing to build a culture of sport excellence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a great run,\u201d said Smart, whose new role entails providing operational support, mentorship and technical leadership to the coaching staff of the two basketball programs, working with the Department of University Advancement on fundraising and community development, and providing mentorship to other varsity team coaches at Carleton.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

“Dave Smart is not just any college basketball coach”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoaching is my second love, my first being my wife and children,\u201d Smart said just a week after his Ravens soared past the University of Calgary Dinos<\/a> 83-49 in Halifax on March 10, 2019 in the gold medal game at the U SPORTS Men\u2019s Basketball Final 8.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI am very thankful to the university and I am looking forward to my new role. This gives me an opportunity to stay involved in basketball while having more time to spend with my family.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThe culture that Dave Smart has created and nurtured in our men\u2019s basketball program over the past 19 years is the epitome of the commitment and purpose that defines Carleton University,\u201d said President Benoit-Antoine Bacon. \u201cDave\u2019s success on the court has given Carleton great national visibility and we are sincerely grateful. I wish Dave all the best in his new role, where he will share his \u2018playbook\u2019 with all our Ravens programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDave Smart is not just any college basketball coach,\u201d Matt Giles wrote last year in a feature about Smart<\/a> in the American online sports publication Deadspin<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cSmart is a defensive guru, a legend in the sport, to whom Division I\u2019s top coaches regularly make pilgrimages to learn at his feet.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cDave\u2019s coaching style is super intense, but it\u2019s also individually directed,\u201d Jay Triano \u2014 a former Canadian national team and NBA head coach who is currently an assistant with the Charlotte Hornets \u2014 is quoted as saying in the story. \u201cHe has a unique talent of being authoritative, but also getting across to his players that he knows what is best for them and how they can progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

Taffe Charles to coach Men’s Basketball<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Parallel to Smart\u2019s move, former Ravens men\u2019s team star and assistant coach, Taffe Charles<\/a>, has been named head coach of the men\u2019s basketball program after 12 very successful years as head coach of the women\u2019s program, including its first national championship<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am truly honoured to be entrusted as the next head coach of the men\u2019s basketball program,\u201d said Charles, who played for the team from 1990 to 1995 and began his coaching career as assistant with the women\u2019s program in 1995 before joining the men\u2019s program as an assistant from 1998 to 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI look forward to the challenge of continuing the high standard of excellence that has been set by Coach Smart, his coaching staff and the players.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Since his return to the women\u2019s program in 2007, Charles has made tremendous strides, earning four U SPORTS Final 8 berths, four OUA East titles, and two OUA Critelli Cup Championship titles. In 2017-2018, after a record-breaking season during which the team won all its games, Charles brought home the program\u2019s first national championship.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

Building on a Legacy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart, meanwhile, has had an astoundingly successful coaching career at Carleton, and has received a record number of national and provincial coaching awards in addition to the 14 national titles (one of which the team won with his nephew Rob Smart behind the bench<\/a> when Dave took a well-earned sabbatical).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dave Smart has also represented Canada Basketball on the international stage as an assistant coach with the national senior men\u2019s basketball team and head coach of the men\u2019s under-18 team that won silver at the FIBA U18 Americas tournament in St. Catharines, Ont., last year. And he has helped numerous former Ravens make the transition to professional basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
Dave Smart & Taffe Charles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am pleased that Dave has accepted this new challenge where he will build on the legacy he created as head coach of the men\u2019s basketball program,\u201d said Vice-President (Students and Enrolment), Suzanne Blanchard.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cDave\u2019s program has brought a profile of excellence that has attracted top student-athletes, both nationally and internationally. The impact of the success of this program is seen not only in our recruitment efforts, but also in our community pride.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Jennifer Brenning, Carleton\u2019s director of Recreation and Athletics, is looking forward to these new developments and the future of both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has been a privilege to be a part of this historical run,\u201d said Brenning. \u201cWe owe Dave a debt of gratitude for his tireless dedication and sacrifice to the program over the past 19 years. His new position will provide our U SPORTS coaches with valuable mentorship and a well-deserved challenge for Taffe Charles in recognition of his performance with the women\u2019s program. I am excited to see how this coaching team will work together to continue to foster a culture of excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carleton has launched a national search for a head coach for the women\u2019s basketball program.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The head coach behind the bench of North America\u2019s most successful university basketball dynasty is moving on to a new leadership role. Carleton University\u2019s Dave Smart, who has led the Carleton Ravens men\u2019s basketball team to 14 national championships over the last 17 seasons, accepted the position of Director, Basketball Operations, and will be responsible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":54579,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[18],"cu_story_tag":[1928],"class_list":["post-54570","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-athletics-recreation","cu_story_tag-athletics"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/54570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/54570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97855,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/54570\/revisions\/97855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=54570"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=54570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}