Smith retiring as Kalaheo hoops coach
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Pete Smith, one of the most successful basketball coaches in Hawai'i high school history, is retiring as head coach of the Kalaheo High boys' team.
"I'm ready to make a change," says Pete Smith, who will pursue administrative opportunities in the Department of Education.
"I'm ready to make a change," said Smith, who will pursue administrative opportunities in the Department of Education. "I'm leaving with mixed emotions. My wife was more worried about (the decision) than I was. She kept saying, 'Are you sure? Are you sure?' "
In 18 years at Kalaheo, Smith led the Mustangs to three state championships and 14 O'ahu Interscholastic Association titles. The Mustangs qualified for the state tournament in every season Smith was the head coach.
Smith also spent five years at Chaminade University, including a stint as interim head coach.
"We're going to miss his coaching," Kalaheo athletic director Lee Cashman said.
A search for a successor will start immediately, Cashman said. Smith said he expects his son Alika, a former Kalaheo and UH standout, and long-time assistant coach Chico Furtado to apply for the job. Alika Smith is an assistant coach at Hawai'i-Hilo, and Furtado also is head coach of the Kalaheo girls' team.
Smith credited his success to the continuity of his coaches — "I've been able to keep the staff together for at least the last 14 years," he said — and the talent pool in the Kailua-Aikahi area.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Kalaheo's enrollment is 1,050, but Smith noted, "Kailua is a basketball community. You drive around our part of Kailua and you see hoops up in a lot of driveways. There are a lot of good youth leagues around here."
Kalaheo High School basketball coach Pete Smith developed Division I players like Alika Smith, Greg Miller and Julian Sensley.
Smith has managed to develop several Division I prospects — including Alika Smith, Greg Miller and Julian Sensley — and compete in the state tournament against private schools with greater budgets.
"We don't have all of the feeder schools and programs like the ILH has," he said, noting many private schools compete in intermediate leagues. "At that age, the kids in our community are playing in a park league. ... But we've had a lot of great players here. You're not going to win without great players, and we've had a number of them."
Smith said he would not rule out returning to college coaching. "You never say never," he said. "It's always open."
For now, his involvement in basketball will be limited to the summer camp he has run for eight years and watching his youngest son, who is attending Kamehameha.
"Now I'll be able to follow him," Smith said.
• • •
In States: • 14 final fours: • 3 championships ('85, '95, '01) • 5 seconds, 5 thirds, 1 fourth • 18 times to state (every year he coached) In OIA: • 14 championships • won every OIA championship game he was in
Pete Smith's accomplishments
