Gabby Smith, one of the all-time great southern Ohio high school basketball players, has died after a lengthy illness.
Smith was a 1971 graduate of Western High School in Latham, where he led the Indians to the Class A Regional Finals that season, and was named Ohio "Player of the Year". Gabby was Western’s all-time leading scorer until he was surpassed by 1992 graduate Renee Walls Davis.
He played college basketball at Lander University in South Carolina, where he would become all conference and later inducted into their Hall of Fame.
Gabby Smith came home to coach at two Pike County high schools, replacing Hall of Fame coaches at each location. Smith filled the vacancy left at Waverly when Carroll Hawhee retired, between 1980-82, leading them to one regional final. He then exited Waverly to return to his alma mater at Western, where he took over for his former coach- Heckie Thompson between 1983-85.