The first husband-wife combination is about to reach the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Mark Smith, a 1979 Butler graduate and among the best Golden Tornado basketball players of all time, will be inducted into the Hall at the annual banquet April 24 at the Butler Days Inn.

Smith's wife, Jody Imbrie Smith, was a standout girls basketball player at Butler and was inducted into the Hall in 1989.

"I feel honored," Smith said of his impending induction. "We're both very happy this is happening."

When Smith graduated from Butler, he was third on the boys basketball program's career-scoring list with 839 points. He was second in field goals with 319.

Smith was Butler's leading scorer, rebounder and the team's MVP during his junior and senior seasons.

"I was fortunate to have good coaches and parents who helped me get the most out of the ability I had," Smith said.

"Harry Leyland probably had the biggest impact on me. I attended Butler Catholic and he had quite a basketball program there. He developed my fundamental skills," he added.

Smith was co-captain of the Butler basketball team his senior year with Ed Hartman, who was killed in an automobile accident a few years later and was inducted into the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame posthumously in 1989, the same year Smith's wife was inducted.

Smith's favorite high school memory was a two-point overtime victory over New Castle in the playoffs.

"They beat us twice that year, but I scored the winning basket on a layup in the final seconds," he said. "I was open underneath, Jim Farmer saw me and tossed me the ball."

Smith's basketball career paralleled his wife's. They were high school sweethearts and both went to Grove City College, where they starred for the men's and women's basketball programs.

Smith left Grove City as its No. 7 all-time scorer with 1,171 points. He scored 481 points in 1982-83 and was co-captain of Grove City College's winningest team ever that season.

The Wolverines got off to an 11-0 start and finished 21-4. Smith averaged 19.2 points per game.

"We had a great team that year, great chemistry," Smith said. "One of our losses was to Slippery Rock, by one point in overtime.

"We lost our second playoff game and never should have. We lost by a point in a game we were winning, and I was sick the night before."

Smith, who was named Grove City College Sportsman of the Year in 1982-83, majored in chemistry and earned his master's degree in business at the University of Pittsburgh.

The Smith family lives in Alpharetta, Ga., near Atlanta, and Smith works in chemical sales.

Smith has been coaching his children - Kara, 14, Erik, 12 and Kylee, 9 - in basketball for the past five years.

"If we could all be millionaires, I'd be teaching and coaching right now," he said. "Coaching has been both fun and rewarding."

"We've always been a basketball family," Smith added. "We're looking forward to coming back to Butler for the dinner."