A career that spanned a little less than three decades came to a close Tuesday night when longtime Harrisburg boys' basketball coach Randy Smithpeters resigned.
The board will now have to accept Smithpeters resignation, which he said he would send by email in the next few days.
The man who led Harrisburg to a IHSA Class 2A State Championship in the 2012-13 season, leaves as the school's all-time winningest boys' basketball coach with an overall record of 517-328, also captured 12 regional championships, six sectional titles to go along with seven Sweet 16's, three Elite Eight's and 1 Final Four.
Smithpeters also led the Bulldogs to five Southern Illinois River-To-River Ohio Conference Championships.
He help set an Eldorado Holiday Tournament record by leading the Bulldogs to a record four straight championships from 2010-13. Harrisburg also has 10 2nd place finishes, two 3rd place trophies and three 4th place finishes.
Harrisburg, under Smithpeters, won the Carmi-White County Invitational Tournament 10 times and took home second place five times.
Smithpeters, from McLeansboro, got his start at Harrisburg High School in the 1993-94 season. That year, the Bulldogs went 23-6 and won the regional. He followed that up with a 27-5 ball club that won a regional, sectional and super-sectional, before losing in the Elite 8.
Last March, during the COVID-19 portion of the basketball season, Smithpeters surpassed the 500 career wins mark after a weekend victory over West Frankfort.
The recognition of a coaching milestone was something Smithpeters admitted he wasn't interested in and remained humble in his acceptance of being honored.
"As people bring that up, what I'm thankful for and blessed with is just a lot of good teams in the past and a lot of good players that contributed to all of this," Smithpeters said. "I got no points and no rebounds in those 500 wins. What I do have is a lot of good memories, a lot of good people and I feel very blessed to have that opportunity."
Smithpeters goes out with a 517-321 record, where he had 19 years with 18 or more wining seasons and 13 years with 20-win seasons.
A District IBCA Coach Of The Year, Smithpeters was named to the IBCA Hall of Fame in 2017 and was named to the SICA Hall of Fame in 2019.
"The most important product of our program, the one I am most proud of, is all the young men that have gone on to become productive citizens, professionals, husbands and fathers. They still love returning to Davenport Gym. That love is special," Smithpeters said.
Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois LOCAL Media Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
Randy Smithpeters By The Numbers
1993-1994 23-6
1994-1995 27-5
1995-1996 21-8
1996-1997 21-10
1997-1998 25-6
1989-1999 19-9
1999-2000 10-18
2000-2001 21-8
2001-2002 24-5
2002-2003 9-19
2003-2004 7-18
2004-2005 3-23
2005-2006 9-18
2006-2007 21-9
2007-2008 20-13
2008-2009 18-11
2009-2010 24-8
2010-2011 26-7
2011-2012 28-6
2012-2013 33-1
2013-2014 18-11
2014-2015 18-11
2015-2016 19-11
2016-2017 11-17
2017-2018 23-8
2018-2019 7-22
2019-2020 11-16
2020-2021 9-6
2021-2022 10-18
12 Regional Championships
6 Sectional Championships
7 Sweet 16's
3 Elite Eights
1 Final Four
1 State Championship
5 SIRR Ohio Conference Championships
