Mustang Basketball Gladly Welcomes Back Alika Smith
By Jack Danilewicz
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As Kalaheo High’s search for a new head basketball coach lingered over the past several weeks, Alika Smith’s interest in the job only intensified. Yes, absence does, indeed, make the heart grow fonder. Smith finally picked up the phone and called Kalaheo interim athletic director Mark Brilhante to inquire.
“I wanted to see where it (the search) stood, and if there was a deadline,” said Smith, who was hired on May 28. “The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to throw my hat into the ring. It was always in the back of my mind - I wanted to go back to where it all started and continue the legacy of my father (the late Pete Smith). If I can do half as good of a job as he did, I’ll be a successful coach. I look forward to being there a long time.”
Smith’s hiring truly marks a homecoming, as he was a three-time Player of the Year at Kalaheo in the early 1990s before going on to a stellar career at University of Hawaii, where he starred alongside eventual NBA-player A.C. Carter. He also is a former assistant coach at the college level under Jeff Law and Riley Wallace at UH-Hilo and UH-Manoa, respectfully.
Smith spent last season as head coach at Punahou, where he guided the Buffanblu to a 14-4 record and a third-place finish at the Division I state tournament. Smith’s success there prompted many - including Brilhante - to believe he wouldn’t leave Punahou when the Kalaheo job opened up in March.
“I thought he was very much set at Punahou,” he said.
Indeed, Kalaheo’s first search in early April didn’t include Smith, and the job went to longtime college coach and then-head coach at Academy of the Pacific, Chic Hess. Hess resigned several days later for personal reasons, however, and Kalaheo’s search reopened.
“I think the emotional side was there to returning to where he played and where his father was a terrific coach,” Brilhante said.“I felt like there was a little bit of a God intervention. This was obviously a place where he would be a good fit. It’s exciting for the Mustangs family.”
Pete Smith won 14 OIA titles in addition to state championships in 1985, 1995 and 2001 while a coach at the school. He also led Kalaheo to runner-up finishes on five other occasions, and the Mustangs never missed the state tournament in his 18 seasons there. Kalaheo named its home floor “Pete Smith Court” in 2007.
His impact on Alika Smith is unmistakable, especially when it comes to basketball. “I’m trying to follow in my father’s footsteps as a players’ coach,” he said. “He always believed in having fun. I had fun at A.O.P., I had fun at Punahou, and we’re going to have fun at Kalaheo.
“It isn’t always about winning and losing - it comes down to teaching and educating the kids.”
Smith praised the support he received at Punahou from both athletic director Jeaney Garcia and assistant A.D. Kale Ane as he considered making a change. “They did an unbelievable job. It’s all you could ask for. They can move forward now, I can move forward now, and we can both be successful.”
Smith succeeds Chico Furtado, who resigned in March to explore other opportunities. Furtado was a longtime assistant to Pete Smith and built the Kalaheo girls program into one of the state’s premier basketball programs as its head coach, winning five OIA titles. His stint as the boys head coach also included an OIA title and a second-place finish at the 2004 state tournament.
Smith was working late last week to finalize his assistant coaching staff and had met with prospective players last Monday to outline his program. The Mustangs will host their annual Summer League in the coming weeks.
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