The Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association is proud to announce that Steve Smith of Orrville High School is the recipient of the 2000 Paul Walker Award. The Paul Walker Award is presented annually by the OHSBCA to an active coaching member of the association who has made significant contributions to high school basketball. The award is named in honor of the late Paul Walker, the long time coach of Middletown High School. At the time of his retirement, he had the most wins as a boys basketball coach in Ohio High School Basketball history.

Steve Smith is a graduate of Shelby High School where he lettered in football, basketball, and baseball.  Upon completion of duty with Navy Seabees in DaNang, Vietnam in 1968.  Coach Smith attended Northern Arizona University, graduating in 1972.  He received his Master of Arts in Guidance and Counseling from Bowling Green State University in 1975.  His first teaching and coaching job was at Sandusky Perkins where he taught English and was assistant varsity football and JV basketball coach.  After one year he was named head basketball coach and baseball coach at Old Fort High School.  His 1975 baseball team reached the State Final Four.

After four years at Old Fort, Coach Smith moved onto Orrville High School.  He has been the head boys coach for the past 23 years and is also the head golf coach.  He guided Orrville to the school’s first trip to the State Final Four in 1980.  Orrville won the school’s first back to back state championships while moving up a division.  They were Division III State Champions in 1995 and Division II Champions in 1996.  Coach Smith’s teams have won 9 District Championships, 4 Regional Championships, and 3 State Championships.  His over overall record is 484-130 and at Orrville his record is 437-98.  Coach Smith has been voted State Coach of the Year on 3 separate occasions, elected to the Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame, and the Orrville High School Sports Hall of Fame.

Coach Smith is presently the OWE Coordinator at Orrville High School and has been actively involved with the Orrville Area Boys and Girls Clubs and the United Way.  He has two sons, Steve Jr. and  Rocky.  Steve Jr. is teaching and coaching in Florida.  Rocky and his wife, Shelly, live in Orrville with coach’s grandsons, Alexander, 4, and Luke Steven, 2.