During his 17 years as USC Men’s Tennis coach, Peter Smith led the Trojans to 5 NCAA Championships, including four straight from 2009-2012. Smith’s 2012 Trojans posted a stellar 33-1 record in 2012 in winning their fourth consecutive championship. Smith was a two-time ITA National Coach of the Year (2010, 2012), a five-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, and the 2011 USPTA National College Coach of the Year. From 2003-2019, Smith’s teams recorded a 381-105 record.
Smith started his coaching career as the youngest Division I men’s head coach (age 23) at Long Beach State. During his illustrious career, Smith also coached at Pepperdine and Fresno State. In his six years at Fresno, Smith built the Bulldogs into a top-20 program. He led FSU to its first-ever NCAA Tournament in 1994 and coached the program’s first All-American, Fredrik Bergh, in 1995. In 1996, Fresno captured its first Western Athletic Conference title with a 23-5 record, earning Smith ITA Region VII and WAC Coach of the Year.
Following Fresno, Smith went to Pepperdine, where he went 118-31 with Top-20 finishes in the rankings every year. In 2002, Smith led the Waves to a #5 national ranking and the NCAA quarterfinals, earning his fifth straight West Coast Conference Coach of the Year honor and the ITA West Region Coach of the Year.
Smith is the only coach to lead four programs to top 25 rankings. Compiling a 651-240 record, Smith left each program better than when he found it. Because of his steadfast commitment to collegiate tennis and the student-athletes that he coached, the ITA is pleased to induct Peter Smith into the 2023 Men’s Collegiate Hall of Fame. The ceremony to celebrate Peter, and five other inductees, will take place in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, May 21 at 6 pm. For more information and to RSVP, click on the link below.
