Player Bio: Lee Roy Smith

Having guided Arizona State wrestling to eight NCAA tournament appearances and four Pac-10 titles, Lee Roy Smith enters his ninth season as head coach hoping he has the components in place to achieve unprecedented success.

Throughout his tenure, Smith has made a habit of producing wrestlers who rank among the nation's elite and last year was no different. Seven Sun Devil wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2000, including two-time All-American Steve Blackford, who tied for second on the ASU all-time single season wins list with Eddie Urbano (43), and first-time All-American Quinn Foster. Four other current squad members also appeared in last year's NCAA Championships including David Douglas, Curtis Owen, Erik Gladish and Kellan Fluckiger.

Smith owns a career slate of 81-53-1 (.609). He has led the Sun Devils to four top-10 national finishes - including two top five finishes - in the last eight seasons. His highest national finish is fourth (1993 & 1995). Smith has tutored 26 All-Americans, guiding six wrestlers into the NCAA finals. He has produced two national champions (for a total of three NCAA titles) at Arizona State. In the Pac-10 Conference, Smith has directed ASU to three conference championships, including two of the last four, in his eight years as head coach. In the 1998-99 season, Smith reached his 100th-career dual milestone when the Sun Devils earned a 27-12 victory over Boise State at last year's Reno Duals.

Smith has been twice named Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1993 & 1998) and was selected Co-Coach of the Year in 1997. He was named Rookie Coach of the Year by Amateur Wrestling News in 1992-93, and with the number of top-notch recruits he has signed in the past eight years, Smith has shown no signs of resting on his laurels. The future is now for ASU wrestling, and that future indicates the Sun Devils will continue to contend for national honors.

Smith took the ASU post after serving as USA Wrestling's freestyle coach for the United States national team from 1989 through the 1992 Olympics. At the Barcelona games, Smith guided the USA to its best-ever Olympic wrestling performance. The U.S. squad won three gold, two silver and one bronze medal, placed all 10 weight classes in the top seven, and compiled a record number of team points. In 1997, Smith coached the USA Wrestling team at the World Championships in Siberia.

In the three years prior to the Olympics, he coached six individuals to world freestyle wrestling titles and helped guide the U.S. National Team to three runner-up finishes at the World Championships.

From 1987-89, Smith was a member of the Swiss Wrestling Federation national coaching staff. In that capacity, he conducted training camps for Swiss National Team members prior to international competition, helping the Swiss team to its best-ever showing at the Freestyle World Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France, in 1987.

Smith began his coaching career first as a graduate assistant coach and then as an assistant coach for his alma mater, Oklahoma State University, from 1982-87. He helped guide the Cowboys to five top-four NCAA finishes and three Big Eight Conference titles.

Smith earned his degree in Liberal Arts from State University of New York at Albany after completing all coursework, except a student-teaching assignment, for his B.S. in physical education from OSU in 1982.

Competitively, Smith was a two-time Oklahoma prep state champion and a two-time junior national champion. Smith also was a three-time All-American at Oklahoma State and earned four Big Eight individual titles. He won an NCAA title at 142 pounds in 1980 and helped the Cowboys to second-place finishes at the NCAAs in 1977 and 1980.

Following his collegiate career, he was the National Open Freestyle champion from 1980-82 and the World silver medalist in 1983. He earned silver medals in the 1983 and 1984 World Cup, and in 1984 won the U.S. Olympic Trials, only to lose his spot on the team in a protracted court battle. He was a qualifier at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials as well.

The second oldest of 10 children, Smith, 41, began wrestling in the fourth grade. No one knew then what a tradition of outstanding wrestling he would pioneer - a tradition that includes seven NCAA Championships and a host of international wrestling honors among himself and his three younger brothers: John, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who is currently the head coach at Oklahoma State; Pat, who became the first wrestler to win four NCAA titles; and Mark, who was a three-time All-American at OSU. In fact, the Smith family was picked as the "Family of the Decade" by Amateur Wrestling News in 1999 for their accomplishments.

Smith has been appointed to the newly established Coaches' Counsel for USA Wrestling. He was also named to the National Wrestling Coaches Association executive committee as the Pac-10 Conference representative and is still actively involved with USA Wrestling as a member of its volunteer coaching pool. In addition, Smith has served as a member of the wrestling broadcast crew at both the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Olympic games for freestyle and Greco Roman competitions. He and his wife, Lisa, have two children, LeAnne (12) and Shannon (10).

The Lee Roy Smith File

Lee Roy Smith Position: Head Coach

Career 81-53-1 25-6-1 26 22