Nevada Smith takes a jump from Division III to not quite the big leagues. Keystone athletics photo

Keystone has announced that Nevada Smith has resigned his position as the Giants’ head men’s basketball coach to become the head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Development League affiliate of the NBA’s Houston Rockets. Smith, who led Keystone to appearances in the Colonial States Athletic Conference championship game each of the past two seasons, will begin his duties with the Vipers immediately.

Smith was named the fifth head coach in Rio Grande Valley’s history on Monday after reaching a deal with the Houston Rockets organization.  He replaces Nick Nurse, who accepted an assistant coaching position with the Toronto Raptors in July after leading the Vipers to a D-League championship last season. The Vipers’ previous two head coaches, Nurse and Chris Finch, have both moved on to NBA positions with Finch spending the last three seasons as an assistant with the Rockets.   

In his two seasons at the helm of the Giants, Smith led Keystone to a 39-16 overall recording including a 27-9 mark in CSAC play along with a pair of conference runner-up finishes.  Last season, the Giants went 18-10 overall including their first-ever defeat of a nationally ranked opponent as Keystone defeated Scranton in December.  

Three players earned All-CSAC honors including sophomore Duncan Lunsford, who was a First Team selection before being named to the D3hoops.com All-Middle Atlantic Region Third Team. Additionally, five players earned a spot on the CSAC All-Academic Team while Smith was selected as the recipient of the Keystone Coaches Sportsmanship Award and also was named to the NIC All-Fraternity All-American Basketball Team – Coaches Honor Roll alongside greats including Rick Pitino (Louisville), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), and Brad Stevens (Butler).

During the 2011-12 season, Smith helped the Giants to their second consecutive 21-win season and a berth in the conference title game for the first time. Smith helped produce three all-conference selections, including a pair of first team honorees, including Malcom Boone, who would go on to play professionally in Germany.

Prior to joining Keystone Coach Smith spent five years as an assistant coach at Ithaca College. During his time at Ithaca, the Bombers saw their best five year stretch in program history, compiling a mark of 96-40, a period that saw the team claim three Empire 8 regular season championships in 2008, 2009 and 2011 and two NCAA Tournament berths in 2009 and 2011.

Smith, who was a four year standout player and 1,000-point scorer at Bethany, previously served as an assistant coach at Allegheny (2005-06), head coach at SUNY Canton (2004-05), and assistant coach at St. Lawrence (2002-04).  

Keystone has yet to announce Smith’s replacement.