Gretchen Grierson / Special to the Sun
UNLV basketball great and longtime broadcaster Robert Smith sits in the Boulder Creek Golf Club clubhouse next to framed jerseys featuring his No. 10 from his playing days with the Rebels. The jerseys were prizes for winners participating in a golf tournament and birthday celebration for Smith, who turned 69 on Sunday, March 10, 2024. The golf tournament proceeds will help Smith with expenses for physical therapy, which he continues to undergo after suffering a stroke five years ago.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Robert Smith sits at a table at the Boulder Creek Golf Club with a half-eaten pulled pork sandwich and baked beans in front of him.
Smith, the UNLV basketball great and member of the Rebels’ 1977 Final Four team, is posing for photos and greeting visitors — even if it means his food is getting cold. His trademark smile is hard to miss and that’s downright refreshing.
Smith is five years removed from a massive stroke that should have taken his life, and he has a scar across his head as a reminder of how fortunate he is to still be with us. He’s limited to a wheelchair, struggles to speak and needs round-the-clock help with the basics. But he’s still here, thankfully.
About 180 friends were in Boulder City on Sunday for Smith’s 69th birthday celebration, which started with a fundraiser golf tournament at Boulder City Golf Course and ended with the birthday bash at nearby Boulder Creek.
When it comes to UNLV, Smith is one of the program’s all-time revered figures. He’s the best shooter in Rebels history whose Hardway Eight team — a moniker it earned for a relentless style of play — in 1977 paved the way for coach Jerry Tarkanian’s future successes.
If it weren’t for Smith, Sam Smith, Eddie Owens, Reggie Theus and others coming to UNLV in the 1970s, the “Glory Years” in the late-1980s and early-1990s might not have happened, because those guys made playing for UNLV cool and hip. Smith’s No. 10 has since been retired.
Smith later became one of the team’s radio broadcasters, where his commentary for more than a decade brought in another generation of fans.
Smith was brutally honest when describing UNLV’s play, cheering like you and me when they performed well, criticizing the effort when players didn’t live up to the standard he helped establish, and barking when he felt the officials missed a call.
His popularity can be measured with those in attendance, including UNLV alumni from various decades: Danny Tarkanian (1980s), Evric Gray (1990s), Ben Carter and Austin Starr (2010s).
“It brings tears to your eyes knowing how much people still care,” said John Sandler, the UNLV play-by-play announcer and Smith’s close friend who attended the bash.
Teammates for life
Robert and Gloria Smith wake up at 4:30 a.m. most mornings to prepare for the day.
Gloria helps her husband take a bath and brush his teeth, feeds him breakfast and then gets ready for the day herself. Doctors in October 2019 told Gloria that her husband wasn’t going to survive, but she wasn’t going to quit fighting.
They were married as teenagers and came to UNLV together — Robert as one of the program’s greatest guards, and Gloria a loud and vocal UNLV cheerleader.
After his stroke, he initially needed a ventilator to help him breathe and keep him alive. He couldn’t perform the simplest of tasks for himself and was frustrated having to rely on others — especially knowing another season of UNLV basketball was on the horizon and he had games to attend.
Around the same time, Gloria needed surgery for breast cancer. She barely missed a moment in watching over her husband, with friends and family raving about how Robert picked a great teammate for life.
“Look at Gloria take care of Robert,” Sandler says. “She’s an angel.”
Robert fully understands what’s happening, mostly using hand and face gestures to communicate. On UNLV game days, there’s extra pep in his face knowing his beloved Rebels will soon be playing.
Smith is able to stand with help. That, the family says, is because of attending therapy sessions about three times a week.
“In his mind, he thinks he can do everything,” Gloria Smith said. “We don’t take the little things for granted, like standing.”
Those appointments are expensive and the reason behind his friends organizing Sunday’s event, which was expected to raise about $15,000 for his ongoing care, said Tom Hughes, Smith’s longtime friend from when they were assistant coaches together at Bishop Gorman High. Smith got into coaching after a lengthy professional career including seven NBA seasons.
The event was also spearheaded by Jason VanMetreen, part of Gorman’s 1997 state championship team Smith coached, and Mike Lubbe, from the YMCA.
Anything for Robert
The guest list at Smith’s birthday party included childhood friends he grew up playing with at Crenshaw High in Los Angeles.
Smith was a prolific shooter — he led the nation in free throw shooting at 92% during the Final Four run — because he never stopped working at his craft, said Darwin Cook, his high school teammate.
Smith was a prep senior when Cook was a freshman, but that didn’t matter: Smith took a great interest in making sure the youngster also developed. It was only fitting that Crenshaw retired the jersey No. 11 that both men wore.
“(Sharing that moment) was the greatest honor of my career,” said Cook, who played nine NBA seasons.
Cook said their regimen started at 7 a.m. daily with cardio training. They’d grab lunch and head directly to the gym for more work. They held each other accountable and looked out for one another. That’s still true today.
When Cook heard of the benefit for his friend, he immediately booked the trip. His mentality was shared by many in the room: Anything for Robert.
“You aren’t going to find a better friend in this world,” Cook said.
You also aren’t going to find a better UNLV Rebel, in that Smith has unconditional love for the Scarlet and Gray and wants nothing more than for them to win.
