Missouri Western State University’s Director of Athletics, Kurt McGuffin has announced the hiring of two new coaches for the Women’s Tennis program Thursday morning. The Griffons have hired, the recently retired Men’s Basketball coach Tom Smith as the head coach while Raven Searcy, a four-year tennis athlete at Northwest Missouri State, will be the new graduate assistant. Smith takes over for former Tennis Coach Ron Selkirk.

Smith served as the basketball coach at Missouri Western for 25 years before retiring last March. He left the program as the all-time leader in wins and also accumulated more than 600 wins as a basketball coach throughout his 38 years in the coaching ranks.

Smith’s tennis knowledge dates back to his days at Valparaiso where he was the coach for three seasons. He was the Indiana Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year in 1966 after his squad won the conference title.  Smith’s wife, Patsy, is also a former Head Women’s Tennis Coach, and in 1998 she led Griffons to their first NCAA Tournament.

“I certainly do not profess to have the expertise that Coach Selkirk has, but what I can bring to the table is 46 years of coaching experience at the college level,” commented Coach Smith. “One of our objectives is to get the women’s tennis program more involved with the rest of the athletic department. Hopefully having a coach on campus help will expedite that move. ”

Searcy played for the Bearcats in the early 2000s. She was named to several all-conference teams, and played high school tennis for Central High School in St. Joseph. While at Central she was an All-State performer twice and compiled a record of 31-9.

She graduated from Northwest in the spring of 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

“Often times programs like tennis and golf feel like they are never part of an athletic department and it is very difficult to be a part-time coach to full-time student athletes,” stated Director of Athletic Kurt McGuffin. “Our main focus was to fully support these programs so that they have the tools to compete in this league. Coach Smith is dedicated to MWSU and its student athletes and along with Coach Searcy they will devote time and energy both on and off the court to provide a quality experience for our tennis student-athletes.”

— MWSU Sports Information —