2022 Herald Sportsperson of the Year: Rick Smith
Dec. 31—GRAND FORKS — Rick Smith grew up on a ranch in Wood Lake, N.D., on the Spirit Lake Reservation.
"We did all that good stuff, back in the day, when they didn't have nice machinery," Smith said. "We did everything by pitchfork and horse. I hated it back in the day but you appreciate it now. You have that work ethic and discipline instilled in you."
Work ethic. Discipline.
These words keep popping up when you talk to coaches and players about the veteran Four Winds-Minnewaukan boys basketball coach.
Smith's 2022 included a perfect 27-0 North Dakota Class B state championship season that was capped off in March. He's started the 2022-23 season ranked No. 1 again, too.
Because of the ability to foster a dominant program at Four Winds-Minnewaukan, the Grand Forks Herald has named Smith the 2022 Sportsperson of the Year.
Smith is the first coach since 2015 (Dave Hakstol) to win the award, which the Herald has named annually since 1996.
Smith, who has been head coach for different stints dating back to 1993, entered the 2022-23 season with 435 career wins. Four Winds-Minnewaukan has been ranked in the Top 10 state poll every week since the 2018-19 season.
"Success doesn't come right away," he said. "You're going to go through your tough moments, let me tell you. You go through heartbreaks and tough teams and you have teams that aren't successful, and you battle against those successful teams and they give you some spankings and you run into coaches who are smarter than you and outfox you. It was a lot of learning and adjusting."
Jayden Yankton was the all-state star guard for Four Winds-Minnewaukan in 2021-22. He now plays for United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck.
"He's the reason the program is so successful," Yankton said. "It all comes from him taking time out of his life to give back to the youth. (Winning a state championship) was crazy. We put so much time in the gym together. Rick spent continuous hours making us better. It was big for our community. Everyone was behind our back, even other reservations like Belcourt or ones in South Dakota or Minnesota or Montana. Everyone was there to watch us. Our native people want to see kids go big and be successful."
Smith has taken the Indians to 10 state tournaments: 2006, 2007 and 2008 as Four Winds and 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2022 as Four Winds-Minnewaukan.
Smith has lived on the reservation most of his life. The second-youngest of nine children, Smith lives on the ranch where he was raised, about a mile south of Tokio, N.D., in Benson County. His father died about 11 years ago and his mother this past year. He and his five brothers still live about a mile from one another.
Smith is a Warwick High School graduate (1982) who went on to college at Lake Region in Devils Lake and graduated from UND (1988).
His first job out of college was at Four Winds as a paraprofessional. He also agreed to help coach basketball.
Sean Gourd played for Smith in the late 1990s. He's coached at a number of levels at Four Winds and now leads the girls varsity program.
Gourd said Smith's program has been fueled by the feeder programs of youth basketball and the traveling circuit.
"By the time Rick gets them, they've got a couple hundred games under their belt," Sean Gourd said. "Rick is just consistent. He puts his whole heart into the program. Our community is really thankful he's been part of the program for so many years."
Rick credits a vast, veteran team of coaches in the community. Rick's brother, Dennis Smith, has been an assistant with the varsity boys program for 13 years. Travis Mertens, who was a Mr. Basketball winner at Devils Lake before playing at UND, has been an assistant with the program for nearly 10 years.
Sean's brother, Oliver Gourd Jr., heads the youth level. Doug and Justin Yankton have also helped at the youth level to help create the varsity success, Rick said.
Smith said the philosophy doesn't change from fifth grade to varsity. It's about discipline and hard work.
"We expect our kids to be good athletes and good basketball players, but we ask them to be nice young men, respectful in the classroom and in the community," Smith said. "We try to take care of that right away. For the hard work, we don't take many days off. We're done in March and kids go to tournaments and team camps in the summer. As long as they're in the gym playing basketball, they're happy. I think that's the first and foremost thing we do is we're dedicated and disciplined and have respect. I think our boys have checked a lot of those boxes. Do we lose some along the way? Sure we do, but for the most part, our core is pretty successful."
Smith said Mertens has been a big addition to the program. Travis' dad Joe taught at Four Winds and Travis took over for him out of college. Travis is now the dean of students at Four Winds.
Mertens has been around great coaching, he said. He had Jason Gregory at Devils Lake, Mark Graupe at Lake Region and Brian Jones at UND. In Mertens' view, Smith is among the North Dakota high school coaching legends.
"With Rick, it's how consistent he is," Mertens said. "Everything is so structured and routined. Keeping that routine, everyone is preaching the same thing from elementary to high school. It's consistent coaching. What your elementary coach is telling you is the same thing your high school coach is telling you."
With all of Smith's success at Four Winds-Minnewaukan, why hasn't he tried his luck at another job at a bigger school?
"No. 1, this is my home," Smith said. "My family and friends, my happiness. A lot of things — money and bigger places — a lot of that can't replace that. I think if you ask anyone who has worked at a Four Winds school, the kids are pretty important and special to me. The reason I stay is an old cliche: I do it for the kids. You might not have a great day at home or things aren't going right, you can come to work, and I can guarantee you one or two kids can snap you out of that and put a damn smile on your face.
"A lot of these kids, I've grown up with their parents, I've coached a lot of their parents. Everyone knows me by Rick. It's not Coach Smith or Mr. Smith. It's just a personal relationship I have with these kids that goes a long ways for me."
Smith has never married or had kids. The Four Winds community, he said, is part of his family.
The reservation sometimes carries a reputation for difficult living conditions. Poverty and substance abuse are consistent hurdles.
"I've had to take kids to my home a night or two," Smith said. "My brother Denny has raised three, four kids off my teams. We aren't the only ones. You do have to go the extra mile sometimes.
"I tell any outsider, you come to work at Four Winds, give it half a year and you'll fall in love with a lot of our kids. They grow on you. You look at some kids and ask yourself 'how do they do it?' These kids probably don't have the greatest home life, although there are kids who do. Right now I'm standing in the gym doorway and looking at the kids' smiling faces and the fun they're having in phy ed. Unless you work in the education system, it's difficult to tell other people what this is like. People who work in education will know. People who work at Four Winds will know. Anyone who works in a minority school will know what I'm talking about."
Smith is an enrolled tribal member at Turtle Mountain. His grandmother from his dad's side was an enrolled member of Spirit Lake. His dad and his siblings have been enrolled members at Turtle Mountain.
"The program is unique in a way," Gourd said. "Unfortunately, some kids come from struggling homes. When I was in high school, he helped a couple of boys. He was always there for them. He still does that. There are things you have to overcome. That's a tribute to Rick. He does all the things away from the court."
Around basketball, Mertens said Smith knows when to critique and when to lift up. He's both demonstrative and stoic.
"When he's talking, eyes and ears are on him," Mertens said. "He knows his players. He knows who he can get after and who you might have to put your arm around and pull aside.
"When the kids know they can trust you, they're willing to do extraordinary things. They're willing to run through that wall and give you that effort. That's what has made that program — the trust they have for Rick."
2021 — Dr. William Mann
2020 — Jordan Kawaguchi, UND hockey
2019 — Cole Hanson, GF Central hockey/golf
2018 — Thompson athletics
2017 — Quinton Hooker, UND basketball
2016 — Drake Caggiula, UND hockey
2015 — Dave Hakstol, UND hockey
2014 — Madi Buck, UND women's basketball
2013 — Brian Idalski, UND women's hockey
2012 — Gene Roebuck, UND basketball
2011 — Mark Dobmeier, racing
2010 — Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux, hockey
2009 — Mark Kauk, superfan
2008 —Tim and Tom Wynne, local tennis
2007 — Ryan Duncan, UND hockey
2006 — Mark Kroulik, Stephen-Argyle
2005 — Mike Berg, Grand Forks Central
2004 — Nick Mertens, East Grand Forks Senior High
2003 — Jerome Beasley, UND basketball
2002 — Kelly Roysland, Fosston
2001 — Dale Lennon, UND football
2000 — Briona Reynolds, Grand Forks Red River
1999 — Kinsey Coles, Hillsboro
1998 — Jenny Crouse, UND women's basketball
1997 — Dean Blais, UND hockey
1996 — Shane McMenamy, Grand Forks Red River
