King’s Academy coach Smith wins 700th game

Longtime Palm Beach County coach Murray Smith hit another impressive milestone on Monday night.

With King’s Academy’s win over SLAM Academy of Boca Raton, Smith won his 700th career game.

“It’s a humbling thing to think about all of the games and all of the players over the years,” Smith said in a statement. “As much as I want to impact my players, I think that over the years they have had a bigger impact on me.”

Smith has coached five Palm Beach County high school teams in his 32 years as head coach: Lake Worth Christian, Cardinal Newman, Summit Christian (now known as Atlantic Christian), Lake Worth and King’s Academy. Smith has won three state championships: the 1999 and 2000 Class 3A titles with Cardinal Newman and the 2011 Class 1A title with Summit Christian.

Smith is the eighth coach in the state to reach the 700-win mark (with all of those wins coming in Florida), according to Orlando Sentinel records. He is the third Palm Beach County coach to reach the milestone, along with Floyd Andrews (who coached at Palm Beach Lakes and the now-defunct Twin Lakes High, Roosevelt High and North Shore High) and Kelly Beckham (who coached one season at Glades Day but spent a majority of his coaching tenure in Central Florida).

“The thing that I admire about Murray is how his alumni speak about him,” King’s Academy athletic director Chris Hobbs said in a statement. “I try to meet and speak to his alum often so that they feel welcome at King’s and continue to feel part of their coach’s legacy. When I speak to them, I find a lot of grown men that adore their high school basketball coach. That is what high school sports is all about; impacting young people beyond their playing careers. Coach Smith has done that.”

DAN CALVELLI King’s Academy basketball coach Murray Smith poses for a photo after winning his 700th game Monday.