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Court Named After Former Basketball Coach Smith

  • basketball players walk across a court that reads Hank Smith Court
  • Men in suits hug
  • White haired man in tan suit, tie smiles, gestures into a microphone
  • Man with white hair holding a basketball laughs as men stand around him in a circle clapping
  • Group of men pose on a basketball court behind the words Hank Smith Court


More than 125 alumni and friends returned to campus Saturday, January 11, to dedicate the athletic court of Emerson’s gymnasium to coach and mentor, former Emerson men’s basketball coach Hank Smith.

Among the alums was Sam Presti ’00, executive vice president and general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who, with his wife Shannon, made a gift of $250,000 to establish the Emerson Basketball Legacy Fund, an endowed fund that will support both the men’s and women’s basketball programs and their players.

“[The Prestis’] philanthropy helps ensure the lifelong impact of playing basketball at Emerson and nurturing student-athletes who make significant impacts on the court and in their lives,” President Jay Bernhardt said.

Presti played basketball for Smith while a student at Emerson, and went on to make a successful career in the sport, as did many of Smith’s former players.

“When I was a student-athlete, we had to be very resourceful. The mentality of the program was built on taking limitations and turning them into signature strengths. 

Now with the Emerson Basketball Legacy Fund, Shannon and I can help provide the program and its athletes with additional support they may need to help carry on the traditions and find the best in themselves as they learn these valuable life lessons.

The reconnection of so many former players will also allow for the core values and mentality of the program to sustain and evolve. 

We hope that anyone who believes in these value systems and principles, or feel they or their family were influenced positively by the program, will consider supporting the fund however they might be able to,” Presti said.

Other alums on hand to celebrate Smith, who himself attended the dedication ceremony prior to the men’s game vs. WPI, were Presti’s fellow NBA executives Rob Hennigan ’04, assistant general manager of the Thunder; and Will Dawkins ’08, general manager of the Washington Wizards. Television creator Alex Tse ’98 also was among the guests.

From 1994 to 2010, Smith coached at Emerson, where he led the team to 258 wins and had a lasting impact on many former athletes. His work helped elevate the program to its current spot in the NEWMAC league, and many of his former players credit his coaching with helping them on and off the court.

“The Emerson experience is special and unique. It extends well beyond the classroom to include all our students’ hands-on learning experiences in studios, theaters, sets, and gyms, including this one,” Bernhardt said in the Bobbi Brown & Steven Plofker Gymnasium during the January 11 ceremony. “That experience isn’t always easy or fun, but it shapes who you are and who you can become in life. Coach Smith understood that, and he modeled it.”

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