By MARK MAYNARD / The Independent
Now the whistle is on the other shirt.
Darryl Smith, a veteran Mid-American Conference college basketball official, will be working a game Friday where his former high school coach is on one of the benches.
Paul Patterson, who coached Ashland from 1976-79, brings Taylor University to Ohio University for an exhibition game in Athens, Ohio, at 7:30 p.m.
The assignment happened purely by chance, Smith said.
“It’s a MAC assignment that comes from the supervisor (of officials),” Smith said. “I saw the first game was Taylor University and I thought, boy, that sounds familiar.”
Smith remembered it was where Patterson went after coaching Ashland to four consecutive 16th Region titles and an amazing unblemished record within the region during that time.
“He did something here for four years that probably will never be done again,” Smith said of the undefeated record against region competition.
Smith was a vital cog on the Tomcats’ 1977 team that went 32-2 and reached the state final four before falling to Louisville Valley.
“I may be a little partial, but when we get into these conversations, I think it’s one of the better Ashland teams that went through there,” Smith said. “He played about eight of us interchangeably. We were in tremendous, tremendous shape.”
Patterson left for Taylor University in Indiana after four years with the Tomcats. He has amassed 667-318 record with 15 conference championships and 14 appearances in NAIA national tournaments.
Patterson was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1996.
“Had he wanted to get to the Division I level, he could have,” Smith said. “He got to Taylor and found something he really loved.”
Smith said Patterson will be ready for him when the game tips off tonight.
“Coach Patterson is one of the wittiest people I’ve ever been around,” he said. “Knowing him, throughout the game, he’ll have several one-liners that’s he’s famous for. He’ll be trying to mess with me.”
Smith said officials typically don’t talk about their assignments but because it was an exhibition game, he could.
Smith, a 14-year college officiating veteran, has 46 games on his schedule, including a trip to Cancun, Mexico, for a tournament Nov. 24-25 that includes the University of Kentucky.
“I don’t think they’ll let me work them due to the fact that I live in Kentucky,” he said. “But they’ll be interesting to watch.”
Smith is also the assigning secretary and resident officiating guru for the 16th Region. He’s looking forward to watching many new young officials develop.
“This is going to be a transition year for us,” he said. “We lost about seven or eight guys, some retiring and some wanting to spend more time with their families. But we’ve got some good young ones coming up that I think are ready.”
MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.
