The Bay Area Shuckers announced the appointment of a new Head Coach for their third season as a pro-basketball team. Mr. Llewellyn Smalley has been named Head Coach of this American Professional Basketball League (APBL) team. The Bay Area Shuckers are looking forward to a terrific season three.
Smalley is a former Shuckers player. He was an All-American and Hall of Famer at Hawaii Pacific University. His skills earned him a tryout with the Los Angeles Lakers. Smalley is a veteran of nine professional seasons.
“Llewellyn brings extensive knowledge of the professional game and a tremendous passion for basketball. He will bring a new energy to the organization and our style of play. We’re very excited to see what the 2013-2014 season brings,” stated Shuckers General Manager John Wolfe.
Smalley, a native of Shreveport, Louisiana, first gained notoriety on the court during his college years at Hawaii Pacific University. A three-year letterman for the Sea Warriors, Smalley was named All-American in 1997 and 1998. HPU’s all-time leader in points with 1,808 is none other than Llewellyn Smalley. He also is tied for first in the school’s history in games, first in three pointers, third in rebounds and third in steals. For the 1997/1998 season, Smalley was named the Hawaii Intercollegiate Athletic Conference MVP and the Far West Region MVP. In 2011, he was inducted into the HPU Hall of Fame.
Following his collegiate career Smalley was scheduled to go to camp with the Toronto Raptors, but with the National Basketball Association (NBA) lockout he never got that opportunity. He had to to wait six years for another shot at the NBA. Smalley made his professional debut with the Dornbirn Lions, currently of the B Bundesliga in Austria. In the 1998/1999 season, he averaged 42 points per game. In 1999/2000, he took his game to Italy for Snaidero Udine of Italy’s Lega 2. There, he averaged 15.6 points per game.
In 2000/2001, Smalley hit the courts in Turkey playing for Egepen Altay Izmir and averaged scoring 16.3 points per game. The 2001/2002 season saw Smalley continue his European tour playing for Golbey-Epinal of the French Ligue Nationale de Basketball (LNB), and tossed 17.3 points a game through the hoop.
In 2002, Smalley finally returned stateside and played for the Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs. While with the Dawgs in the United States Basketball League, Smalley played under former NBA star Darryl Dawkins. After one season out of the professional ranks, Smalley once again earned a tryout for the 2004/2005 season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
However the 2004/2005 season was one of his best seasons in pro ball averaging 22.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game for Joensuun Kataja of Finland. He continued to play in Finland from 2005 through 2007 for UU-Korihait Uusikaupunki of the top level Finnish professional league, the Korisliiga. In 2005/2006 he averaged 22.7 points per game and saw his team advance to the league semi-finals.
Smalley also played for the All-Army team for two years. In the 2011 Armed Forces Basketball Championship held at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California from April 10 through April 17, 2011, Smalley was named to the All Armed Forces Team. In August 2011 he was signed by the Shuckers and played in nine games. Smalley served a dual role as player and serving as a Coach.
“We want to build on our success from last season, when we won the division title. The APBL has become more and more competitive and we need to up our game to move beyond the division championship and second round of the playoffs,” noted General Manager Wolfe.
The Shuckers will tip-off their third season in the fall of 2013. In the 2012/2013 season, they won the Colonial Division championship with a 10-6 record and advanced to the second round of the APBL playoffs for the second straight season. With Smalley at the helm, the team is looking to improve their level of play and increase their playoff games.
For more information on the Shuckers and to purchase tickets please visit their website. Hope to see you at "The Shell," home of the Shuckers -- the Annapolis Area Christian School, Kilby Athletic Center, 109 Burns Crossing Road in Severn, MD 21144.
