Mott Basketball
“One Team One Family”
4
4
4
18
All-Americans
National Players
of the Year
Time National
Champions
USA Basketball
MCC Coach Steve Schmidt in Colorado Springs
Mott’s hall of fame head coach, Steve Schmidt, has won just about everything there is to win at the junior college level – he has
the banners to prove it. Even so, there are certain experiences that, on a personal level, are every bit as transformative as trophies.
Almost 30 years to the day separate two such experiences that would sit atop any basketball junkie’s bucket list.
1984
For a kid who grew up on the west side of Lansing, there were pick-up games and then there was THE pick-up game.
On a Thursday night in the summer of 1984, with his confidence lost in context, Steve Schmidt strode into the Jenison Fieldhouse at Michigan State University hoping (not expecting) to get in the game. These games, after all, were the stuff of legend.
The better odds were on the former Lansing Waverly standout simply joining the hundreds of spectators who came out that
night to catch a glimpse of the best offseason collection of talent anywhere in the country.
There were 40 players in the building and several coaches,
including MSU legend Jud Heathcoate and his protégé Tom
Izzo. Schmidt, who had spent two seasons playing JUCO ball
in California, was certainly not a scrub. He would go on to play
alongside future NBA all-star Dan Majerle at Central Michigan
University.
Thunder Dan, as it turned out, wouldn’t be the first NBA allstar to roster up with Schmidt.
“I wasn’t sure I’d get in, but next thing I know I’m in the first
game,” Schmidt recalled. “They threw me out there with Magic
Johnson and Isiah Thomas.”
Schmidt remembers losing the first game with his new teammates and thinking he wouldn’t see the floor again. Their lone
loss came against a team starring future NBA players Scott Skiles
and the Vincent Brothers (Jay and Sam) – all three had long
careers in the NBA. A short time later Schmidt, Magic, Isaiah and
Magic’s agent Charles Tucker (they played 4-on-4), returned and
never lost again. Schmidt said they held court for another two
hours.
Schmidt returned home that night sweat-soaked and exhausted.
“I remember laying on my mom’s living room floor,” Schmidt said. “I didn’t want to take off my shoes; I didn’t even want to
shower. It was the greatest feeling in the world.
“I had the time of my life that night; it was one of the best experiences I ever had as a player.”
It was an emotional high he would relive three decades later, 1,200 miles from home. Same feeling. Same game.
2014
This past summer, Schmidt was invited to be one of the coaches at the Team USA U-18 Training Camp in Colorado Springs. It
was a tremendous honor for him, personally, and for the program he helped build.
At the camp, Schmidt would rub shoulders with several of the nation’s top coaches including Billy Donovan (Florida), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Sean Miller (Arizona) and more.
“They treated me like one of their own,” Schmidt said. “There was tremendous rapport among all the coaches and I felt very
fortunate to be a part of it.”
Schmidt said the time he spent with future NBA players and coaching alongside legends of the game flew by. Three days felt
like three minutes.
“It was a whirlwind,” he said. The players were respectful and coachable. The entire camp was well organized. The whole
experience was first class.”
Part of Schmidt’s duties at the camp was to evaluate talent, as 12 of the 24 players would eventually be chosen for Team USA’s
final roster. For Schmidt, one player stood out as much for his talent as for his mentality.
Stanley Johnson, a 6-7 freshman forward for Arizona, cast aside reticence and openly questioned Schmidt who wanted to
switch him out of the lineup in favor of another talented prospect in the midst of a hotly-contested game.
“I told him it was his time to sit,” Schmidt recalls. “He looked at me and said, ‘Coach, I’m trying to win this game. Aren’t you
trying to win?’”
Johnson, didn’t know it at the time, but he was speaking Schmidt’s language. He kept him in and he led the team to victory.
In the coach’s opinion, Johnson was the top player in the camp.
“He talked me out of it,” Schmidt said. “I guess that’s a different style of coaching, but I loved his confidence. He’s my kind of
player.”
Schmidt recalls fondly his 70-mile drive to the airport after camp was over, with Boeheim in the passenger seat and former
NBA forward Danny Manning sprawled out in the backseat.
“For a basketball coach, it just doesn’t get any better,” Schmidt said of his rental car coaching confab. “Honestly, I wouldn’t have
been upset if we had gotten lost, unfortunately we had flights to catch. Our conversation wasn’t just about basketball. We talked
about different cities where we’ve recruited, and the best restaurants in those cities. I know restaurants.”
Arriving back home in Flint late that evening Schmidt, clad in his Team USA gear, was reminded of a feeling he first had when
he played in the open gym at MSU in 1984 . He didn’t want the experience to end. Like the college student 30 years prior, he didn’t
want to change out of his USA Basketball shirt.
“With winning national championships, being inducted in different halls of fame, this ranks right up there with all those
experiences,” he said. “I hope I did a good enough job and that this isn’t my last experience with USA basketball.”
Photos courtesy of USA Basketball
Coaches in red shirts sitting from left to right: Bob McKillup - Davidson,
Danny Manning - Wake Forest, Steve Schmidt - Mott, Sean Miller - Arizona,
Billy Donavan - Florida, Ed Cooley - Providence, Jim Boeheim - Syracuse,
Matt Painter - Purdue, Lorenzo Romar - Washington and John Morse - Westmont.
Steve Schmidt ranked among
nation’s best JUCO coaches
FLINT, Michigan — CoachStat.net recently released a ranking of the nation’s best basketball coaches at the Junior College level
and, to no one’s surprise, Steve Schmidt is near the top of the list.
The website has ranked the Top 25 JUCO coaches in the nation. Its national panel of media, scouts
and coaches considered many factors such as winning percentage, graduation rates, success of
former student-athletes at the four-year level, lifetime achievements, current success, building/rebuilding projects, affability and more. Experience among the honorees ranged from one to 46 years.
What Schmidt has done at Mott is nothing short of remarkable. Winning an incredible 82% of his
games over 24 years is unheard of, winning more than 25 games for 19 straight years is mind
boggling! Schmidt IS Mott basketball and not only is he recognized by several Halls of Fame,
he has the very gym that he coaches in named after him.
The full list:
1. Jared Phay, Southern Idaho
2. Steve DeMeo, Northwest Florida St.
3. Steve Eck, Hutchinson, Kans.
4. Steve Schmidt, Mott, Mich.
5. Gene Bess, Three Rivers, Mo.
6. Jay Herkelman, Coffeyville, Kans.
7. Craig Doty, Rock Valley, Ill.
8. John Meeks, Wallace St.-Hanceville, Ala.
9. Drew Kelly, Harcum, Pa.
10. Andy Ground, Saddleback, Calif.
11. Kyle Smithpeters, John A. Logan, Ill.
12. Kris Baumann, Trinity Valley, Texas
13. Chuck Moore, Richard Bland, Va.
14. Jeremy Shulman, Eastern Florida
15. Cory Symons, North Idaho
16. Cory Rehringer, Williston St., N.D.
17. Andy Labagh, CC San Francisco, Calif.
18. Patrick Smith, Moberly, Mo.
19. Craig McMillan, Santa Rose, Calif.
20. Bryan Zollinger, Seward County, Kans.
21. Dan Russell, Casper, Wyo.
22. Todd Franklin, Vincennes, Ind.
23. Todd Phillips, Salt Lake, Utah
24. B.J. McGinn, Des Moines, Iowa
25. Hank Plona, Indian Hills, Iowa
Steve Schmidt