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Dons and Warrior Great Phil Smith Passes Away
July 31, 2002
Phil Smith, former USF All-American and NBA player, passed away Tuesday evening (July 30, 2002) at the Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, California.
Smith, 50, one of just five USF players to have his number (#20) retired, died at 5:10 p.m. of multiple myeloma, a virulent bone-marrow cancer that he developed in 1998. He leaves behind five children; Alisha (24), Phillip (21), Amber (21), Martin (18) and Peter (12), and his wife of 27 years, Angela, who he met as a student at USF.
Smith led USF in scoring in all three of his USF seasons (1971-74) and was named all-American his senior season. Smith was all-West Coast Conference all three seasons and was selected to the Top-50 WCC athletes of all-time last year. His number was retired on February 17, 2001.
Smith scored 1,523 career point (ninth on the all-time list) and averaged 18.1 points per game while leading USF to a 62-22 mark. He played under USF coach Bob Gaillard on three straight NCAA squads, after coming to USF from San Francisco's Washington HS.
USF Executive Director of Athletics Bill Hogan said, "Phil was a great basketball player, but also was truly a great caring person, who we will all miss a lot."
Gaillard said upon hearing of Phil's death, "He was the best of competitors and the best of human beings. He was able to make his teammates and friends better players and better people. He will really be missed."
He later moved onto the Golden State Warriors whom he helped lead to their only NBA championship in 1975.
