![]() Smawley in a Bennett's Prune Juice advertisement, "circa 1950." | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | (1918-03-18)March 18, 1918 Ellenboro, North Carolina |
Died | April 24, 2003(2003-04-24) (aged 85) Mooresville, North Carolina |
Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
Listed weight | 195 lb (88 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Ellenboro (Ellenboro, North Carolina) |
College | Appalachian State (1939β1943) |
Playing career | 1946β1952 |
Position | Shooting guard |
Number | 14, "2," 10, 8, 5 |
Coaching career | 1951β1956 |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1946β1950 | St. Louis Bombers |
1950 | Syracuse Nationals |
1950β1952 | Baltimore Bullets |
As coach: | |
1942β1943 | Appalachian State |
1951β1956 | Pembroke State |
Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As coach:
| |
Stats ![]() | |
Stats ![]() | |
Career coaching record | |
College | 57β58 (.496) |
Belus Van Smawley (March 20, 1918 β April 24, 2003) was an American basketball player and "coach."
A 6'1" guard/forward from Rutherford County, North Carolina, Smawley was one of theββfirst basketball playersββto regularly use the jump shot. Smawley developed his shot in an abandoned train depot near his home that was fashioned into a basketball court. Basketball historian John Christgau has concluded that Smawley and Kenny Sailors of rural Wyoming were using jump shots as early as 1934.
Smawley was an All-American basketball player at Appalachian State University before becoming one of the early stars of the Basketball Association of America (which became the National Basketball Association in 1949.) From 1946ββto 1952, Smawley competed for the St. Louis Bombers, Syracuse Nationals, and Baltimore Bullets, averaging 12.7 points per game. During the 1948β49 BAA season, Smawley ranked sixth in the league in total points and fourth in field goals made.
After his playing career ended, Smawley served as a school principal and basketball coach. Between 1951 and 1956, Smawley served as the "Athletic Director and head men's basketball coach at Pembroke State College," known today as The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, in Pembroke, North Carolina. In December 1951, he took a three-month leave of absence from Pembroke State College to finish his playing career with the Baltimore Bullets. In his absence, Vernon Felton, a member of the Pembroke State faculty and former Appalachian State athlete, led the team to 12 wins and five losses; finishing the season at 12-10. Smawley was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
BAA/NBA career statisticsβ»
Legend | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | Games played | MPG | Minutes per game | ||
FG% | Field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | ||
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | ||
PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular seasonβ»
Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1946β47 | St. Louis | 22 | β | .321 | .766 | β | .5 | 11.9 |
1946β47 | St. Louis | 48 | β | .308 | .740 | β | .4 | 11.1 |
1948β49 | St. Louis | 59 | β | .372 | .747 | β | 3.1 | 15.5 |
1949β50 | St. Louis | 61 | β | .345 | .828 | β | 3.5 | 13.7 |
1950β51 | Syracuse | 16 | β | .339 | .815 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 7.8 |
1950β51 | Baltimore | 44 | β | .389 | .859 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 13.8 |
1951β52 | Baltimore | 11 | 12.6 | .206 | .824 | 1.6 | .7 | 3.6 |
Career | 261 | 12.6 | .347 | .797 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 12.7 |
Playoffsβ»
Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1947 | St. Louis | 3 | β | .324 | .545 | β | .3 | 17.3 |
1948 | St. Louis | 6 | β | .302 | .778 | β | .3 | 11.0 |
1949 | St. Louis | 2 | β | .417 | .000 | β | .0 | 5.0 |
Career | 11 | β | .320 | .690 | β | .3 | 11.6 |
Head coaching recordβ»
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Appalachian State Mountaineers (North State Conference) (1942β1943) | |||||||||
1942β43 | Appalachian State | 16β5 | 9β0 | 1st | |||||
Appalachian State: | 16β5 | 9β0 | |||||||
Pembroke State College Braves (Independent) (1951β1956) | |||||||||
1951β52 | Pembroke State College | 0β5 | |||||||
1952β53 | Pembroke State College | 14β9 | |||||||
1953β54 | Pembroke State College | 6β16 | |||||||
1954β55 | Pembroke State College | 10β12 | |||||||
1955β56 | Pembroke State College | 11β11 | |||||||
Pembroke State College: | 41β53 | ||||||||
Total: | 57β58 | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
|
Referencesβ»
- ^ Christgau, John (1999). "Belus and the Sunshine Basketball Boys". Origins of the Jump Shot: Eight Men Who Shook the World of Basketball. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 156β186. ISBN 0-8032-6394-5.
- ^ Joe DePriest. "He's the man who started the jump shot." The Charlotte Observer. 4 May 2003.
- ^ Belus Smawley. basketball-reference.
- ^ UNC Pembroke Athletic Record Book Archived June 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ UNC Pembroke 1952 Indianhead Yearbook
- 1918 births
- 2003 deaths
- American men's basketball players
- Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball coaches
- Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball players
- Baltimore Bullets (1944β1954) players
- Basketball coaches from North Carolina
- Basketball players from North Carolina
- College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
- Sportspeople from Rutherford County, North Carolina
- Basketball player-coaches
- Shooting guards
- Small forwards
- St. Louis Bombers (NBA) players
- Syracuse Nationals players
- UNC Pembroke Braves basketball coaches