17 Facts About Sonny Smith

Charles H "Sonny" Smith was born on November 15,1936 and is an American former college basketball coach.

Originally from Roan Mountain, Tennessee, Smith served as a head coach for 22 seasons.

Sonny Smith won the 1985 SEC tournament championship while at Auburn, and won both the CAA regular season and tournament titles in 1996 while at VCU.

Sonny Smith made six NCAA tournament appearances as a head coach, five at Auburn and one at VCU.

Sonny Smith was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Sonny Smith was hired by East Tennessee State in 1976.

Sonny Smith coached the Buccaneers for two seasons before leaving to become the head coach at Auburn.

Sonny Smith was hired by Auburn in the summer of 1978 after the recently hired Paul Lambert died in a hotel fire.

Sonny Smith took the Auburn job despite returning all of his starters from the year before and moving into a new arena at East Tennessee State.

Sonny Smith guided Auburn to its first ever NCAA tournament appearance in 1984, led by future Hall of Fame player Charles Barkley.

Sonny Smith was named SEC Coach of the Year following the 1984 season.

Sonny Smith then coached that team to the Sweet Sixteen of the 1985 NCAA tournament.

Sonny Smith would go on to lead the Tigers to three more NCAA Tournament appearances, making it as far as the Elite Eight in 1986.

Sonny Smith was again named SEC Coach of the Year following the 1988 season.

VCU had just left the struggling Metro Conference to become a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, and Sonny Smith led them to success in the new conference immediately.

Sonny Smith was named CAA Coach of the Year at the end of the season.

From 2003 to 2014, Sonny Smith provided the color commentary for the Atlantic Sun Game of the Week on CSS.