Kentucky Wesleyan College basketball voice Joel Utley remembers the move.
Or better yet, the strategy.
KWC needed nothing short of a miracle to stay alive in the NCAA Division II tournament in Durham, North Carolina. The Panthers were facing a talented South Carolina State squad in a first-round game, on the campus of North Carolina Central University.
KWC trailed South Carolina State by three points in the final seconds of regulation, and the Panthers' George Tinsley was instructed to make the first of two free throws, only to miss the second. Sam Smith, the 6-foot-7, 230-pound KWC center, was listening to his coach, Guy Strong, as the Panthers broke the huddle.
"You could always count on Sam," Utley said.
Strong certainly could, and so, too, can the Kentucky Wesleyan community. After some logistical issues were resolved -- with the help of the Dropping Dimes Foundation, an outreach program for former American Basketball Association players in Indianapolis -- the 72-year-old Smith and his wife, Helen, will be able to attend Saturday's celebration of the 1966 KWC national championship squad, along with the induction of the 2016 KWC Athletic Hall of Fame class at the Convention Center.
Strong remembers Smith's sheer strength, when he converted Tinsley's missed free throw into the tying points against South Carolina State. The Panthers took control in overtime, winning 81-73.
"I just said to Sam, 'On the second one, just tip it in,' " Strong recalled. "I'm not a prophet, but with Sam, it was almost like it was meant to be."
Sam Smith and KWC basketball were almost meant to be together. Smith grew up in Hazard, where he played basketball and football in high school. He signed with the University of Louisville, playing for the late Peck Hickman for nearly two seasons at U of L before deciding to transfer to KWC.
The Panthers already had Tinsley, Don Bradley and Dallas Thornton on board, but Smith's arrival brought immediate dividends. KWC defeated Stetson and Akron in the NCAA D-II national tournament before slugging out a 54-51 victory over Southern Illinois in the championship game.
"The last time I was in Owensboro, I believe, was in 2013," Smith said in a telephone interview from Indianapolis. "Kentucky Wesleyan was playing a game that night. We had a really good team in 1966, and we probably should have won it again, the next year. We lost to Winston-Salem State, and Earl Monroe, in the semifinals
"I was just a kid from Hazard, when I got to Louisville, and for me, the city was just too big. I knew a couple of the (KWC) guys from the Kentucky-Indiana all-star game, and I was invited down to Owensboro for a visit. I had to sit out one year, before I could play, so I would practice with the team and then play AAU ball on the weekends in Indiana."
After KWC, Smith played five years in the ABA, including three with the Kentucky Colonels. He won a league championship in his final ABA season, with the Utah Stars. He met his wife, Helen, while he was attending KWC, and the couple raised their two children, Sam, Jr., and Nikki, in Indianapolis.
Smith remembers his critical basket in the NCAA D-II championship game in the final minute against Southern Illinois. It gave the Panthers a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"The (SIU) guy guarding me, he could outjump me," Smith said. "I got him with a hook shot, to the right side of the basket. Maybe eight feet out. He jumped too soon ... I still had the ball in my hands."
The Panthers finished 24-6 while winning the first of eight NCAA DIvision II national championships, and they avenged an earlier loss against SIU that night in Evansville. Strong said Smith's presence gave KWC instant credibility when the Panthers ventured against larger schools such as Evansville, Louisville and Vanderbilt.
"Sam gave us a dimension that we hadn't had, that enabled us to compete with the big boys," Strong said.
Sam and Helen Smith will arrive in Owensboro on Friday, but he'll be leaving town early Saturday to attend the funeral services for his younger sister, Joyce, in Hazard. The Smiths plan to be back in time for the celebration of the 1966 KWC national title squad.
"I know downtown has changed a lot, from the days of the Executive Inn," Smith said. "Dallas Thornton and George Tinsley will definitely be there. Tommy Hobgood, some of the other guys. We're all looking forward to it."
