In the rare moments of free time afforded to a college basketball coach, Point Loma Nazarene men’s assistant coach Julius Smith likes to unwind with words, as a reader, writer, and linguist.
“I don’t like to be singular in my mindset,” Smith said. “A lot of different things fill my cup: creative writing; reading a great book; learning a new language. I like to be multifaceted – yes, I love coaching basketball, but I like to do a lot of things, and I am okay with that.”
Affectionately called ‘Juice’ by those in the PLNU basketball program – as in being in his presence gives those around him juice or energy – Smith, 31, in his fourth season on the Sea Lion bench, depends on the quiet moments away from the game, book in hand, to recharge.
“I place an emphasis on turning it off when I can,” Smith said. “The days off that I have, I read. I shut my mind off from thinking about basketball and let myself take a literary journey. That fuels me to be better when we come back to practice. I can’t do it seven days a week because I don’t think that’s healthy. I know that is hard to comprehend because we are in a profession that requires you to work 60-hour weeks, but that time I can step away from coaching is restorative.”
From Shel Silverstein to Octavia Butler, Smith’s lifelong love of books started with a collection of poetry gifted to him as a kid by his mom. On the inside cover, an inscription is memorized to this day: “never let anyone take your knowledge away because it is the one thing everlasting.”
“It fueled my want and desire for a more intense base of knowledge,” Smith said. “I think I realized ‘hey there is a story inside of these books that can help me be a better human being and in turn, I can help others do better.’”
Smith majored in English with an emphasis on creative writing at William Jessup College and then earned a master’s degree in English literature from California Baptist University. His thesis, which topped out at 125 pages, was titled “Germane Signification: Language and Prose Used in African American Literature pre-1900.”
The literary and the hardwood are perhaps an unusual pairing, but in Smith’s mind, his background in language and creativity is why he is an effective coach.
“The one thing the guys understand is that my communication is going to be thorough; detailed; intentional; clear,” Smith said. “I am not able to express my thoughts in the way I am able to now unless I understand syntax and diction and the proper punctuation and how grammar connects everything we do. I bring it back to my master’s.”
“When you have a dude as talented as him with people – he’s a guy everyone wants to be around; he’s a magnet to other people – he can do so many things,” added fellow PLNU assistant coach Justin Downer. “Along the way he is going to run into a lot of people that want to use his skills for different things. Our guys and staff love him.”
With the nationally ranked Division II, PLNU program, Smith wears many hats. He works in player development; recruits; scouts; schedules; and helps make travel arrangements.
“He has lapped people [who started coaching at the same time] in terms of his talent,” Downer said. His rise is as unique and fast as most people you can find.”
Downer, who was a teammate of Smith’s at William Jessup College, originally got him his first job in coaching at the junior varsity level at Riverside Poly High School.
“The guy I was working for at the time said we had a JV coach opening and I couldn’t let him turn it down because I knew the impact he could have on others,” Downer said.
At the time, Smith was a customer service representative at a bank, with dreams of a future in academia.
“In my mind, I was going to be the next young bright professor at Harvard University,” Smith said.
For Smith, it was an opportunity out of left field.
“He told me he didn’t have time being an English major,” Downer remembered. “It didn’t jump off the page to him at first.”
“When Justin presented me with coaching I never thought I could be impactful in this business,” Smith added. “I wasn’t a guy who broke down X’s and O’s as a player. But I trusted him and his vision for me.”
According to Downer, Smith was a natural.
“You don’t really get good at coaching out of nowhere and he has,” Downer said.
Smith remembered it a little differently.
“I thought I was coach Krzyzewski and we were at Duke,” Smith said. “To my regret, I was a little too hard on them. But I really enjoyed it. I was invigorated helping kids grow from what they thought they were to what they thought they could be.”
Long term, Smith wants to remain in coaching, but he doesn’t want it to be the only pursuit in his life.
“I don’t want it to be infinite and I don’t want it to be what I do for the duration of my life,” Smith said. “My dream is to be a head coach one day, but by the time I am 55, or 60, I want to be writing books and teaching creative writing.”
