Smith

GROVE CITY — Mark Smith, a 1979 Butler graduate, is being inducted into the Grove City College Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday.

Smith was among the best men’s basketball players in GCC history. His wife, Jody Imbrie Smith, is also a Butler graduate and is the Wolverines’ all-time leading women’s basketball scorer with 2,218 points.

Jody Smith joined the GCC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. The Smiths will become the first husband-wife team to be in the Hall,

“It’s a special honor and we’re excited about it,” Smith said. “I have great memories of Grove City. I played with a good bunch of guys.”

Mark scored 1,171 points at Grove City and is 12th on the men’s all-time scoring charts. He was co-captain of the 1982-83 GCC team that fashioned a 21-4 record and finished the season ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division III.

Bob Crow, the other co-captain, was inducted into the GCC Hall in 2008.

“That team really was good enough to win the national Division III title that year,” Smith recalled. “I was sick with food poisoning during our (national) tournament game and we lost by two.”

Smith led that team with 19.2 points per game and averaged 5.6 rebounds per contest. His 481 points scored that season are fourth-most in school history for a single campaign.

Smith scored 839 points during his prep career at Butler. He was inducted into the Butler Area (now Butler County) Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

The Smiths have three children: Kara, Erik and Kylee. The latter scored 2,175 points for Alpharetta High School in Georgia — 10th most in state history — and is averaging a team-leading 13.4 points per game as a sophomore forward at Belmont (Tenn.) University this season.

Kara and Erik both played high school basketball as well.

“Kylee has a game Saturday and won’t be able to make the ceremony,” Smith said. “Everyone else will be here and some of my former teammates will be coming back.

“It’s going to be a fun time. I’ve kept in touch with a lot of those guys over all of these years.”

One of 10 inductees in this year’s Hall of Fame class, Smith will be recognized at halftime of the 3 p.m. GCC men’s basketball game vs. Geneva Saturday. An induction dinner will be held at 6 p.m. on campus.

Other inductees include volleyball, basketball and softball coach Susan Roberts, Doug Fullerton (swimming), Doug Hart (football), Michele Kirin Michael (softball), Beth Lora Pifer and Mark Timko (basketball), Jeannie Annan (volleyball), John Mulholland and Meg Tilley Musselwhite (soccer).

Call 724-458-2900 for ticket information.