Southeastern Louisiana University Athletics

Jim Smoot begins the sixth season of his tenure at Southeastern Louisiana in 2018. During that time the Lady Lion volleyball program has earned three seasons of double-digit wins and qualifying for the Southland Conference Tournament three times.

Transfer Elyssa Purcell, who led the nation in triple-doubles in 2016, became the first Lady Lion to lead the nation in a statistical category since Sarah Gascon set the NCAA single-season record for digs in 2003. 

In 2015, Southeastern recorded its most overall wins (13-18) since the 2004 season and that comes on the heels of an 8-8 Southland mark in 2014, the program's most conference victories in a dozen seasons.

Juniors Landry Bullock and Madi Odom earned All-Louisiana honors from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for their efforts in leading the Lady Lions to new heights in 2015.

One of the highlights of the year included the Lady Lions' first victory over conference-foe Central Arkansas.

Southeastern also made its academic efforts known throughout the conference as Bullock joined senior Mikayla Shippy on the Southland All-Academic squad. For Shippy, it was her second consecutive appearance on the conference's academic team.

Morgan Todd made her mark on the Southeastern record book in 2014, earning All-Southland (second team) honors.

A balanced offensive attack, aided by four different players with at least two kills per set, and a stingy defense paced Southeastern to a pair of four-match win streaks in 2013, including a sweep of the Tangi Tourism Lion Classic.

A former head coach at Ohio State, Hawaii, Loyola Marymount and South Alabama, Smoot has made two trips to the Men's NCAA Division I Final Four and one trip to the Women's NAIA Final Four.

After 14 seasons as the women's head coach at Westmont College, an NAIA school in Santa Barbara, Calif., Smoot spent the 2012 season as a volunteer assistant for legendary coach John Blair at Tennessee Tech.

At Westmont, Smoot took his team to the NAIA national tournament four times. Included in those four appearances is a 1999 trip to the Final Four.

Smoot's coaching experience prior to Westmont includes three years as the women's head coach at South Alabama (1994-96) where he earned the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1995. He has also served as an assistant with the women's programs at LSU and Michigan.

On the men's side, Smoot served as head coach at Loyola Marymount (1980-81), Ohio State and El Camino Junior College (1982-84), as well as a stint as co-head coach at Hawaii (1985). In 1982 and 1983 his Ohio State teams advanced to the NCAA Final Four.

The native of Torrance, Calif., has also coached in the Women's Professional Volleyball League and a men's club team in Saudi Arabia. He was head coach for the men's East Team in the 1982 National Sports Festival and an assistant for the men's squad at the 1983 World University Games.

Smoot began his collegiate playing career at El Camino Junior College, then played two years at Pepperdine where he was named the Most Valuable Player in 1973 and earned a bachelor's degree in Physical Education. He resides in Covington, La.


SMOOT'S CAREER RECORD