Ish Smith Interview

I know Coach Prosser and Coach Battle and Coach Gaudio would be happy for you and you have represented Coach Prosser.

He would just be proud. Mike Muse is in studio with us here and I wanted to ask you about this now that Ish Smith is joining us now, soon to be Wake Forest Hall of Famer. You got emotional there when you were telling him about being a Wake Forest Sports Hall of Famer and when Skip's name came up. What was the source of that emotion?

Why did that get to you? Well, I came in with Ish and the five freshmen and we did everything together. Ish was at the NBA camp and I was telling Coach Prosser about him.

We just came in together. We grew up together. I saw every day the amount of work that Ish Smith put in.

I saw him in the gym after games, late at night, one o'clock in the morning, rebounding while he's getting up shots. Just to know that he embodied everything, Coach Prosser talked and to get in and be one of his guys to get in and have him work for Coach. Coach left us and Ish and I went through that period together where Coach passed away and we had to go through that season. That group was really close. A lot of us are still really close because of Coach's passing. To see somebody from that group be rewarded in that way and it be Ish being the first one, I think we'll have a couple more before it's over with. It was just because of Ish and mine's relationship. It's just so special.

He's family to me and always will be. This month, I think, marks 15 years that we've been without. July 26th.

It was July, so last month. We've been without Skip Prosser for 15 years now. Ish Smith, you hear what Coach Muse has to say there. What lesson or lessons do you take most that still resonate most with you that you learned from the late, great Skip Prosser? Oh, wow.

You know, there's so many. Coach Muse and he hit it right on the head. Our relationship is, you know, it started, me and Coach Muse's relationship started in high school my senior year. I think Coach might have been at North. Coach, you was at North for sight, right?

Yes, sir. Yeah, so Coach was at North and and it was it was it was crazy because he actually came to a game because he was scouting Jamie. That was actually my junior year. I'm sorry, scouting Jamie and North neck. North North for sight had a really good team. Jamie, the team had a really good team and we were solid, but they do.

OK, we can meet each other in the Final Four or somewhere in the Elite Eight in the regional semifinals. And so Coach came watch, you know, watch this play. And I still remember to this day watching him, seeing him. And then how great of a program he had then.

And he just became like a father figure to all of us. Like you said, and Skip and him were in coach used to tell you this. They were tired of the hip. That was like whenever like coach would be going somewhere. Like, come on, come on, Coach Muse.

Come on, let's go. I'm someone they were like attached to the hip. They did everything together because he, as you know, Coach P saw a lot of Coach Muse in him and vice versa. And so it's funny when you see Coach Muse and we know Coach P's now, you know, he went on on to be with the Lord. But we know that a lot of the things we see with Coach Muse, we just kind of that's skip skip. And he used to always tell us, you never delay gratitude.

You know, I tell children and I tell people that to this day and I thank the Lord for the people he's put in my life. You know, Coach Muse, Coach Battle, Coach Gadio and Skip, you know, because they teach you life lessons instead of just being like, all right, we're trying to win games and we're trying to make it to the final four. We're trying to do this.

We try to do that. It was more of a family atmospheric coach brought in. So he used to always talk to the janitor, talk to, you got to understand my dad, he owned his own janitorial business. So it just resonated with me when you're a freshman coming here, 17, 18 years old, and you see the head coach of your basketball team having relationships with everybody on campus, Pitt, Benson workers. It didn't matter. And so he used to always tell us never delay gratitude.

And for us, you know what that meant, like, I don't care what people do for you or not do for you, you always are thankful for what people do for you. And I was, you know, again, I tell people this all the time. I could have went to any school for one year with Skip, was better than four years with with some of the best college coaches that has ever lived because he taught me so much during that time. I wonder, Ish Smith's joining us here, Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame, if you're answering this question already and what you said there. But anytime I talk to guys that you played with and you've been on a lot of NBA teams, they I asked who their favorite teammate was, guys that they look at and guys that they like a lot. And your name always comes up first every single time. It's almost like I need to get to know this person just because of all these high level players that swear by you as a teammate.

I mean, even the media. Tom Habistro was on here not too long ago, saying back when I was at Wake, Ish Smith is my guy, is my favorite guy in the league. I'm just telling you, though, Ish, like where we know at times where you can get great playing attributes from, who you can learn from teammates and coaches that way. But who teaches you to be such a great teammate?

Is that something you also get by expressing gratitude and what Skip Prosser taught you? I was truly blessed. Gwen and Larry Smith.

I was born to out there in 1988, the Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. And when I, you know, those two put so much and I tell everybody I have a strong faith. And the Lord is when he put me on this earth and put them in my life and they put Christian bases and me and my three.

But my me and my brother, 11 months apart, and then I got two older sisters. They weren't playing with us about what kind of character we need to have. And we knew that was more Christ like than anything. How you walk, how you treated people, how you how you interact with people.

All those things are very, very important. And my mom and dad used to always tell me that all the time. And then when it came to the sport, they used to always tell me, you have to be humble in your own eyes.

That was my mom and dad's favorite words. You have to be humble in your own eyes. That is a gift. The Lord has blessed you with and you can take it away. I think we take it away and strip from you. And so you have to know that this anointing, this blessing that he's blessed you with when it comes to the game of basketball.

It comes to more of a meeting than just out there dribbling the basketball. And so I truly, truly got to give them one hundred and ten percent credit. I think the first and foremost, I know everybody said, I want to thank God, but I was a true statement.

I want to thank Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, because your story is going to help somebody else's story. And we start realizing that that is bigger than you. It's not about like, hey, man, I, I, you know, I hit the shot against Texas or I did this or did that. Whatever the case is, you start moving in a little bit of pride because ain't you. He's placed you in those positions, placed around those people to either improve their life and make it better.

And it actually is using you as a tool. So I've learned that. But my mom and dad, they put a lot of character in me, a lot of Christian character. And it's something that I put into my children and I try to do the same thing. And I try to not only just speak on it, you got to act on it. You have to. And sometimes we slip and we mess up and different things like that. But for the most part, I think that is something that my mom and dad, they did.

And I got to give them one hundred and ten percent credit. Ish Smith's with us. I'm looking at Mike Meuse. And you just look like you look like the way a proud father would look like hearing Ish speak like you're just beaming right now. I am beaming because everything he's saying is true. And, you know, when you're around high character people, high character people breed other high character people. And, you know, his upbringing with his parents and knowing his mom and dad and his sisters and brothers and how he runs his camps down in Charlotte when he comes home. And then then to I know that that's part of the reason why he came to Wake Forest is because Skip embodied it was just a carry over. Skip was part of that that journey, too.

And it was just a perfect match. You know, the work ethic, the drive, the high character, the high values. And when you have good people like Ish Smith, you know that he doesn't worry about awards or, you know, he just wants to win. He wants to be a great teammate. He wants people to to get better. And he's willing to do whatever it takes.

And when he realizes that and he shares his faith the way that he does to me. I mean, he's a coach's he's a coach's dream. He might not care much about awards, but awards still are pretty cool. Like being a Wake Forest Sports Hall of Famer like you are now, Ish. When I look at guys who are in that hall, I see Tim Duncan's name. I see Randolph Childress's name. And now I'm seeing Ishmael Smith's name. How does that hit you?

And I don't want to get too emotional because I do know that it is a like I said, it's not me. If you ask me, like I would have you were taking my personal self, I would have came in. This is what I would do. Stay there for a couple of years, kill like Chris Paul and the Muggs even did. And then I'm going to, you know, to the NBA. And Lord was like, no, no, no, no.

I got a different plan for you. And so I those guys are pretty big time guys. They Chris and Tim and Randolph, these guys are there.

They're the cream of the crop. We got some more guys like Coach when you said it's going to go in. I'm telling you, our team was just way too talented.

You know, I think Cheyenne go in and, you know, I'm happy for her. Like it's just so many people just bigger than me. Again, you got to understand, I'm very appreciative. I didn't make every shot. I didn't I didn't make every right play.

Oh my. It didn't matter to me for me. I knew the journey of coming away and it wasn't the easiest. I mean, Coach music is not telling you the whole story. He's been nice. You know, we lost Skip.

People don't understand. We lost Miss Joyce. We lost Miss Battle.

We lost Chase's father. Like it was a lot that we went through when we was on that campus together. And so I told the guys, I take the guys this and I mean this with coach mutual and everybody else. When I went in, this is the God on his truth. When Lord utilized me to go in, everybody went in. My coaches, my teammates, everybody went in because it's not an individual award. It really isn't.

People think it is, but it's really not. And it's really not like a, you know, for me, it wasn't more of a basketball war because I wasn't four-time All-American. I wasn't those guys. I was just somebody who I wanted to see God get better out on the floor. I came in as a kid and because we was playing too fast, whoa, slow down here. And I left, you know, a man realizing what Wake Forest represented for me and my family moving forward.

And even during that time, how the Lord used Wake and the people to Miss Hethlen's to Miss Caldwell's. Like, it's so many people that I can thank and Coach Muse. He knows this, like, you know, coach called me the other day and asked me if I was going to come down. And I was like, man, you know, coach, I'm gonna let you know.

And this is the type of man coach muses. My dad, my mom called me, my cousin called me and my wife told me they were like, if Coach Muse actually to come there. I said, well, my family settled, you know, I'm getting used to different. You go down there. If you he asked you to go down there, you go down there.

I said, yes, ma'am. Well, because that's who Coach Muses being for us. And he's not he's not telling the whole story because he's been the humble. But Coach Muse, every day we was on that campus, every day was on that campus. He was with us, me and Jamie every day. And then from there, James.

And then from there, Alpha Ruth. And then from there, it was Jeff. And then from there was LD. Then from there was Harvey.

It was. That's who Coach Muse was. And so when you have that was the reason why I went to wake is because my mom and dad did their bet. They did their bet. The greatest job ever to meet. I got the 17 and they pass them off, pass those off, pass me off.

Coach Muse, Coach Gaudio, Coach Battle, Coach Kelsey, skip every one of those coaches and said, I trust you with my kids because I know we already knew Coach Muse was in the community in North Carolina. And so my mom knew we was in good hands and and that people was going to keep that same thing going that my parents did. And so, again, it is like I said, it's it's bigger than me. I tell people all the time is way, way bigger than me. And when you realize your purpose and why the Lord has you there, then you don't get proud about it.

You just are thankful and hopefully you can inspire other people. And Ish, this is how special Ish is. Ish is the starting point guard. He gets hurt.

We bring in Jeff Teague. Well, a lot of guys. He turned out to be OK, too. Yeah. He, you know, NBA All-Star pretty good.

Yeah. And, you know, a lot of guys in Ish's position already been there and you're bringing in a stud would have packed up and left, especially this day and time. They don't want competition. Ish thrived on that. And iron sharpens iron. And Ish Smith and Jeff Teague went at it every single day in practice. I mean, they just got each other better. They elevated each other's game. And I'm convinced as a coach that both of them had the careers they had in the NBA because they went at each other. And then Chris would come back in the summers and he would go at them with it and he would bring other NBA guys back. So so we had a culture that was where everybody was pushing everybody. And that was so cool to watch as a as a professional, as a coach to to see those guys rally around each other and make each other better.

And speaking of those pro guys, Ish, I mean, it's got to be a pretty good on the video we saw yesterday. You're telling Coach Forbes how much you liked what you saw this past year. I mean, when you beat the team in Chapel Hill that wears blue last basketball season, I bet it feels good for you and Jeff Teague and other guys who were in the league to watch the Demon Deacons now and think, oh, no, no, we're back at it. We used to have it back when we were playing in the mid 2000s.

And now it's starting to get back there. Yeah. You know what? I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm so happy for the organization, for for for it all. I'm not even gonna lie to you because then I can I can brag on Wake Forest. I can I can brag on Wake Forest. Hold on guys, hold on, hold on.

All right. Ish Smith joining us here. I think he's probably turning away another call. He's a busy guy. That might be a first on the show. But hey, he's in Denver. When's he coming down?

You say he's coming down sometimes? Well, you know, we're we're dedicating to locker rooms, clubhouses, as they're called next week, September the 1st, the Chris Paul Family Basketball Clubhouse and the Carol Guth Basketball Clubhouse for the ladies in the Shaw Basketball Center. There's going to be a ribbon cutting ceremony September the 1st in the morning.

Next week. Part of an opening football day, you know, game going on. And so we're going to have some people come by and celebrate the locker room open and the clubhouse open and issues. Some issues. Name is up in the locker room. I'm alive. It's actually, you know, I've moved into my home and my family out here in Denver and I got trash everywhere.

So we called the trash jugglers, I think, or whatever they call and they come in and get all the trash. All right. I do want to talk about this guy. I want to say this before I, you know, talk about Coach Forbes and what he's doing such a great job on. And y'all let me know if I'm talking too much, because I do think it's so many things that that has happened that, you know, so many people don't understand and know if Jeff T. doesn't come to Wake Forest, I promise you, if God don't use Jeff T. to come to Wake Forest, Ishmael Smith is not in the NBA. And that's the God honest truth because when Jeff came to school, I was playing against one of the best point guards in college basketball every single day. So if I'm playing against Jeff T. who is I'm telling you, I don't care what nobody say. I love Randolph.

I love Mudd. I love Chris Paul. I love all those great point guard. Terron Downey. I can go down the line of all these great Robert O'Kelly.

I know my history. All these guys have been great. Jeff T. to me was one of the most talented players at that point.

Opposition has ever walked on that campus. And so if I'm playing against him every single day, I it dawned on me like, oh, I can make it to the NBA because he's going he's not playing on hell the way for it. Like, he's not going to be here long. And Jeff was playing so well at freshman year. Jeff really had an option to leave at his freshman year. That's how coach Musen, coach Musen, that he was that him and James came in.

And if it wasn't for them coming in, turning that program around because we were freshmen. So it was going to take us a little bit. You know, I was strongly playing too fast. Whatever the case is, I had my weaknesses.

And so the point guard position, especially under Skip, that point guard position has to be strong. And I just wasn't, you know, I wasn't there yet. I got better as the year got better. I mean, I got better as the year got going. Me and coach Musen spent days and nights in the gym, reads, looking at film, me having Skip. And me and coach Battle had took that role over when coach P passed away.

So I would go to coach Musen, coach Kelcey, and then I would hit coach Battle's office. This is, you know, when Skip had passed away. But Jeff Teague don't come to Wake Forest. And I tell people this all the time. I would have never known what a pro looked like.

Because it's easy. Chris Paul comes back and play. That seems like a distance. You know, Chris comes back and play All-Star or whatever the case is. When Jeff Teague came into that campus and James Johnson came on that campus and Gary Clark came on that campus.

Who, who? They came in and took Wake Forest immediately from, we were 5 and 11 to immediately 7 and 9. Then from there we were the number one in the country. And so when you're playing against a guy that is at that level every day and we went at it back and forth, back and forth. And when I got hurt, you asked those views. I was like the biggest cheerleader.

Now don't get it, don't get confused. I'm a competitor. So I wanted to be out there with those guys as they were running. So James, Jeff, Farooq, those guys took off. And you know, they drew, as Coach News, they just was bringing us along. Inside I was like, no, no, no, no. You're not going to drag me.

I want to run beside you guys. So I was having my times. I had my moments where I was frustrated, not playing. But I never, ever as a teammate was like, man, I hope Jeff, oh, he didn't.

No, no, no, no, no, no. I was his biggest cheerleader. To the point where I was telling them about Reed. Hey, Jeff, on this Reed coming, Jeff, not trying to take away his aggressiveness as a scorer, but still trying to like, hey, look, this guy on the low, man, whatever the case is, until the last like 15 games when I got healthy, healthy, we were out there playing together, all of us.

And we just got a flow and a rhythm. And before you know it, Jeff was getting 17, 18 a game. James was getting 20 and 10. And then Farooq was getting 17 and 11. And then I was trickling in with my 12 and 13 points that last 12, 15 games.

And LD was playing, like we had really stopped finding the rhythm towards those last 15 games. But Jeff Teague don't come to wait for us? I don't know. We having this conversation. Yeah, there you go. And I can't I can't think of a better case for a Hall of Famer than that from Jeff Teague. But Ish, hey, you get your butt down here because Mike Muse said so. And I look forward to seeing you when that happens. And boy, I just I just feel great that you're a Hall of Famer. And it's just great to see good people rewarded.

And by all accounts, you you check that box being a great teammate and a Skip Prosser guy. So it's good to hear your voice back on here, man. Appreciate you guys.

And I do want to say this. And I'm truly, truly thankful for the four years I spent away for the time, whether it was the people that worked at the Pitt Convention Center, my my classmates, my teammates, Harvey Hale, to Mike LaPorte, to Bobby Hoekstra, to Matt Smith, to Cam Stanley. I mean, I can list all the guys because, you know, we always talk about the six or seven, eight guys, the top eight guys, the Chasers and David Weaver, those guys. But it was guys, you know, we competed.

Kevin Swinton, Jermaine Dukes, like all those guys. I'm truly thankful for the coaches. And I thank the Lord that he allowed them to use all of us to be an example for him. And like I said, you know, I'm very happy how Coach Ford's got the program back up and running. Like I told him the other day when we got to all of them, I said, oh, you would have been a coach I could have ran through a wall for. And so I'm happy for where the program is going. Give us back bragging rights. But for bigger than anything, like the football team, the basketball team, to the lacrosse team, to the field hockey team, the women's team. We do, you know, we support our teams.

We're a tight family. And I'm just so happy that the organization, I mean, that the organization that the school is doing so well. So I'm truly thankful.

Like I said, it's not an individual award. All those people really, really matter. And I thank the Lord that, you know, he's used us all. And I'm happy for waking and where they're going. Do well in Denver, OK? Thanks for doing this. I appreciate you guys.