Arthur John Smiley (December 22, 1922 – July 30, 2000) was an American professional basketball player. Smiley played basketball for Waterman High School, in Waterman, Illinois. With Gene Vance, Andy Phillip, Ken Menke, and Art Mathisen, Smiley was a member of the University of Illinois' "Whiz Kids" team that went 35-6 from 1941 to 1943, earning two Big Ten Conference championships. The team voted to turn down an invitation to the NCAA tournament in 1943, after Smiley, Vance and Phillip were inducted into the military mid-season.
As an artillery corporal with the Army's 106th division, Smiley was engaged in one of the bloodiest skirmishes of the Battle of the Bulge- once firing his 105 mm Howitzer for 96 continuous hours. The 106th division suffered a 90% casualty rate in the skirmish.
Smiley returned to Illinois for the 1946–47 season and won team MVP honors.Jim Rossow. "Whiz Kid passes away". News Gazette. July 31, 2000. C1.
After college, Smiley played two seasons in the National Basketball Association with the Fort Wayne Pistons, Anderson Packers, and Waterloo Hawks. He averaged 6.2 points per game in his NBA career. Smiley also served as a player-coach for the Hawks for 27 games in the 1949–50 season, and posted an 11–16 record.
Smiley spent his later years in Des Moines, Iowa. He died in 2000.
Career statistics Legend GP Games played FG% Field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage APG Assists per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high
BAA/NBA Source
Regular season Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG 1948–49 Fort Wayne 59 .247 .683 2.3 6.7 Anderson 12 .120 .500 1.2 2.0 Waterloo 47 .293 .701 3.1 6.6Career 118 .256 .679 2.5 6.2
Head coaching record
| style="text-align:left;"|Waterloo | style="text-align:left;"| | 27||11||16|||| style="text-align:center;"|5th in Western||—||—||—||— | style="text-align:center;"|Missed playoffs
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