Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1985
- Class:
- 1937
When the Associated Press announced its 1937 Little All-America football team, Marshall end Bill Smith officially became the school’s first All-American in any sport. Recruited to Marshall out of Williamson, W.Va. – where he was an all-state basketball player – to play both sports for Coach Tom Dandelet, Smith played tackle on the junior varsity football squad in 1934 and again on the varsity for rookie head coach Cam Henderson in 1935. Smith was moved to end and led Marshall to great success from that spot in the latter half of his career.
The 1936 team started off with a 6-1-1 mark before dropping its final two games – close losses to Miami (Ohio) and West Virginia Wesleyan. The 1937 team won the Buckeye Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship with a 9-0-1 record as it outscored the opposition by a combined 297-19, allowing only six points in a 21-6 victory at Ohio Wesleyan and scrambling to a 13-13 midseason tie versus Ohio University. Smith also played two seasons at center for Henderson’s basketball Herd, helping the 1936-37 squad to a 21-8 record and the first of three consecutive Buckeye Conference titles, receiving All-Buckeye Conference accolades in that sport, too. Smith was also a great student, graduating from Marshall with a 4.0 grade point average and later serving as a Major in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. He was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1985.
