Indiana State University Athletics

The 2023 season will mark the 14^th season for Brian Smiley in the dugout at Indiana State. He spent his first eight seasons as an Assistant Coach before being promoted to Associate Head Coach in July of 2017.
 
A Mount Vernon, Indiana native, Smiley has recruited and coached some of the biggest names to come out of Indiana State in recent memory including Sean Manaea (1^st Round), Jeff Degano (2^nd Round), Jake Petricka (2^nd Round), Dakota Bacus (9^th Round), Clay Dungan (9^th Round), Colin Rae (12^th Round), Triston Polley (16^th Round) and Ryan Strausborger (16^th Round) among many others.
 
Smiley recruited all four Sycamores that were selected in the 2017 MLB Draft (Will Kincanon, Tyler Friis, Jeremy McKinney and Damon Olds) which was the largest draft class for the Sycamores since the 2009 season.

Smiley has helped guide the Sycamores to four NCAA Postseason berths during his time in Terre Haute including the most recent one in 2021. The Sycamores picked up an at-large selection into the Nashville Regional after posting a 31-21 overall record and 14-10 mark in conference play. Among the key series in the year includes a doubleheader sweep over #16 Tennessee and taking two of three from #20 Florida Atlantic.
 
The 2019 season was a monumental season for Indiana State as the Sycamores finished with a 43-18 record, including a program best 20-2 start to the season.
 
Indiana State went on to claim the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament crown, marking the first time that Indiana State had won the MVC Tournament since 1995 after winning four-straight elimination games and two-straight games against nationally ranked Dallas Baptist.
 
Following the tournament championship. the Sycamores went to the NCAA Nashville Regional hosted by top-seeded Vanderbilt. Indiana State defeated McNeese to open the regional before eliminating Ohio State a day later. The Sycamores’ season came to a close after falling to the eventual National Champion Commodores in the regional final.
 
Indiana State entered the national ranking in three different polls in 2019, coming in at No. 23 in both the D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game rankings while sitting at No. 25 in the Baseball America poll. The last time the Sycamores were nationally ranked was at the conclusion of the 1989 season when ranked 22nd by Collegiate Baseball.
 
In 2014, Smiley and the Sycamores picked up another NCAA Regional berth after finishing the season 35-18 overall and 14-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Sycamores went to the Bloomington Regional hosted by Indiana, falling to Stanford and Youngstown State in the postseason.
 
Smiley helped guide the Sycamores to their first outright Missouri Valley Conference title in 2012 after ISU finished the regular season 41-19 overall and 14-7 in league play. The Sycamores were awarded with an NCAA berth and a trip to Eugene, Oregon as the No. 3 seed in the regional. Jeremy Lucas earned MVC Player of the Year honors after ranking in the top five in The Valley in batting average, runs scored, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, total bases, hits, home runs and RBIs.
 
Working primarily with the Sycamore infield, Smiley has watched his defense continually improve, ranking as high as fifth in the nation in fielding percentage in 2016 with a .980 fielding percentage. The Sycamores been ranked in the top-50 in the nation in fielding over the last four seasons and have been consistently ranked at the top of the Missouri Valley in the category.
 
The Sycamores have three infielders in pro baseball from the 2016 and 2017 classes including Andy Young, Hunter Owen and Tyler Friis. Young was added to the Arizona Diamondbacks 40-man roster in the fall of 2019 after hitting .280 with a .373 on-base percentage in 28 games with Triple A Reno. Owen played the final 42 games of the season with the Indianapolis Indians, the Triple A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he recorded 23 base hits and a .325 slugging percentage. Friis, a 2017 draftee by the Cleveland Indians saw playing time in just his third minor league season with the Double A Arkansas RubberDucks.

In 2019, Smiley coached the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year in Jake Means. Means was a Rawlings Gold Glove finalist and finished the season with a .284 batting average and led ISU with 34 RBIs and 14 hit-by-pitch.
 
Means was second on the team with a .416 on-base percentage and 27 walks. A Gardner, Kansas product, Means assisted on 107 outs and recorded 42 putouts for a .974 fielding percentage at third base while playing a part in nine double plays for the Sycamores.
 
During his two-year career at Indiana State, Means went for a .449 slugging percentage, 16 doubles, 15 home runs and 62 RBI in 97 starts. Following the 2019 campaign he went on to be drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 22^nd round.
 
Smiley also recruited four-year letterwinner Clay Dungan. Dungan's selection in the 9^th round marks the highest Sycamore draftee since Jeff Degano was selected by the New York Yankees in the second round of the 2015 draft. Dungan finished the season with a .305 average over 61 starts at shortstop.
 
Dungan, a Yorktown, Indiana native led the team with nine home runs, a .481 slugging percentage and 36 walks. He finished his ISU career playing in 200 games, starting in 191 of them. A left-handed bat, Dungan tallied 44 doubles, seven triples, 19 home runs and 129 RBI over his four-year career.

Over his four years as a student-athlete in collegiate baseball, Smiley played one season each at Triton and Lincoln Trail Community College before transferring to play two seasons at Arkansas - Little Rock where he graduated with a bachelors in exercise science.

Brian, his wife Katie, and their three children, Isaac (4), Christian (3) and Vivienne (1) reside in Terre Haute.