{"id":54568,"date":"2019-03-19T16:19:10","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T20:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?p=54568"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:36:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:36:38","slug":"dave-smart-new-basketball-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/2019\/dave-smart-new-basketball-role\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton University\u2019s Dave Smart Takes on New Basketball Role"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"w-screen px-6 cu-section cu-section--white ml-offset-center md:px-8 lg:px-14\">\n    <div class=\"space-y-6 cu-max-w-child-5xl  md:space-y-10 cu-prose-first-last\">\n\n            <div class=\"cu-textmedia flex flex-col lg:flex-row mx-auto gap-6 md:gap-10 my-6 md:my-12 first:mt-0 max-w-5xl\">\n        <div class=\"justify-start cu-textmedia-content cu-prose-first-last\" style=\"flex: 0 0 100%;\">\n            <header class=\"font-light prose-xl cu-pageheader md:prose-2xl cu-component-updated cu-prose-first-last\">\n                                    <h1 class=\"cu-prose-first-last font-semibold !mt-2 mb-4 md:mb-6 relative after:absolute after:h-px after:bottom-0 after:bg-cu-red after:left-px text-3xl md:text-4xl lg:text-5xl lg:leading-[3.5rem] pb-5 after:w-10 text-cu-black-700 not-prose\">\n                        Carleton University\u2019s Dave Smart Takes on New Basketball Role\n                    <\/h1>\n                \n                                \n                            <\/header>\n\n                    <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<p>Carleton University is pleased to announce that Dave Smart has accepted a new role as <strong>Director, Basketball Operations<\/strong>, responsible for developing the men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs and continuing to build a culture of sport excellence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smart will provide operational support, mentorship and technical leadership to the coaching staff of both programs, and he will work with the Department of University Advancement in fundraising and community development. He\u2019ll also provide mentorship to other U SPORTS coaches in Carleton Athletics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The university is also pleased to announce that Taffe Charles has assumed the position of <strong>Head Coach<\/strong> of the men\u2019s basketball program. After 12 very successful years as head coach of the women\u2019s program, Charles agreed to take on the new challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smart has had an astounding coaching career at Carleton. Since 1999-2000, the men\u2019s program has claimed 14 national titles and he has received a record number of national and provincial coaching awards. He has also represented Canada Basketball on the international stage as assistant coach of the senior men\u2019s basketball team and head coach of the men\u2019s U18 team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a great run,\u2019\u2019 said Smart. &#8220;Coaching is my second love, my first being my wife and children. I 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\n\n\n<p>\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,\u2019\u2019 said&nbsp; President Benoit-Antoine Bacon. &#8220;Dave\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<p>\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,\u2019\u2019 said Vice-President Suzanne Blanchard (Students and Enrolment) and University Registrar. &#8220;Dave\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\n\n\n<p>After a standout career as a Ravens athlete from 1990 to 1995, Charles began his coaching career as assistant coach of the women\u2019s program in 1995 before joining the men\u2019s program as an assistant from 1998 to 2007.&nbsp; Since his return to the women\u2019s program in 2007, he 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 where the team won all its games, Charles brought home the program\u2019s first U SPORTS national championship title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am truly honoured to be entrusted as the next head coach of the Carleton University Men\u2019s Basketball Program,\u2019\u2019 said Charles. &#8220;I 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.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Assistant Vice-President Jennifer Brenning said she is looking forward to the new developments and the future of Ravens basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt has been a privilege to be a part of this historical run,\u2019\u2019 said Brenning, who oversees Recreation and Athletics. &#8220;We 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<p>The university has launched a national search for a <strong>Head Coach<\/strong> for the women\u2019s basketball program.&nbsp; The posting is located <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.njoyn.com\/CL2\/xweb\/Xweb.asp?tbtoken=YVleQhIXCGlyEH10MlJTCFZAAmVEcFNZLiUuQC4kXkhYISl%2FExYrXEVvWkQaBhRzBAkbURZWTXMqWA%3D%3D&amp;chk=dFlbQBJe&amp;CLID=53443&amp;page=joblisting&amp;LANG=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For more information and media requests, please contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Beth Gorham<br>\n<\/strong>Manager of Public Affairs<br>\nDepartment of University Communications<br>\nCell (613) 608-0544<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dave Smart<br>\n<\/strong>Director, Basketball Operations<br>\nCell (613) 293-5362<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Taffe Charles<br>\n<\/strong>Head Coach, Men\u2019s Basketball Program<br>\nCell (613) 371-3859<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Carleton University is pleased to announce that Dave Smart has accepted a new role as Director, Basketball Operations, responsible for developing the men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs and continuing to build a culture of sport excellence. Smart will provide operational support, mentorship and technical leadership to the coaching staff of both programs, and he will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":54576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[100],"class_list":["post-54568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-releases","tag-athletics"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54568"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54578,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54568\/revisions\/54578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}