Inside Furman is published quarterly by the Furman University Department of Marketing and Public Relations. For story ideas, e-mail John Roberts, editor.
Friend-raising and fundraising
The announcement that Atlanta Braves rookie sensation Jeff Francoeur would be the keynote speaker for Furman's 9th Annual Upstate Diamond Classic generated a lot of excitement on campus and in the baseball community.
After all, the 22-year-old has been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and took the baseball world by storm last July when he was called up to the majors and slugged a home run in his fourth at bat. An Atlanta native and crowd favorite, Francoer completed the season with a .300 batting average and finished third in the Major League Baseball's Rookie of the Year voting.
But few were surprised that the annual fundraising dinner for the baseball team was able to attract such a celebrity.
In recent years, Hall-of-Fame knuckle baller Phil Neikro, best-selling novelist John Grisham, Former Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda, Giant great Bobby Thompson and baseball announcer Skip Carey have spoken at the event.
While Furman has a solid baseball reputation – even advancing to post-season regional play last year – it is not a traditional college baseball power. So how is Furman, a hard-scrabble team from a small, private school able to attract such star-studded speakers?
Their coach, Ron Smith, is a consummate salesman: hardworking, smiling and networking…always networking. While Smith doesn't exactly hob-knob with baseball's biggest celebrities, he makes friends easily.
“Somebody knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody,” says Smith, a two a two-sport athlete at Furman during the late 70s.
Adds Furman Athletic Director Gary Clark, with a laugh: “If you've got a used car to sell then Ron's your man.”
For the record, Smith was able to reach the Brave's star through Paladin center fielder Andrew Greene who was Francoer's high school teammate.
“He (Francoer) was happy to come,” says Smith. “He seems like a real sincere and well-adjusted kid.”
Two years ago, Smith landed best-selling author (and college baseball fan) John Grisham through an unlikely scenario that illustrates Smith's penchant for making friends. In 2002, Grisham's son, Ty, an outstanding baseball player, visited Furman on a recruiting trip. Though Ty eventually chose to attend the University of Virginia , Smith remained in touch with Grisham who agreed to speak at the fund raiser.
“If you have to go through the agent and secretaries you're going to have trouble (getting a celebrity speaker),” says Smith. “But if you get in the backdoor somehow through a personal connection, well, sometimes you get lucky.”
As the head coach of small-college program, Smith wears many ball caps. He is a coach, recruiter, administrator and fundraiser.
During the past decade, Smith has approximately $700,000 to fund scholarships and continued upgrades to the Paladin Baseball Field. Improvements to stadium press box and exterior landscaping improvements have helped to make the 1,000-seat stadium among the most attractive in the Southern Conference. The most dramatic change came in 2001 when stadium lights were added at a cost of $225,000.
Smith says the program gets much if its support former players, interested alumni and fans.
“Although I solicited money for the poles (lights), I rarely go out and ask for money,” says Smith. “It's comes from generous individuals who volunteer to help.”
After graduating from high school, Smith had scholarship offers from several universities, but chose Furman because he was told he could play both basketball and baseball.
A native of Indiana, Smith was three-year starter at shortstop and helped lead Furman to a 23-16 record and Southern Conference Championship his junior year. The Paladin basketball teams he played for were even more successful. Known for his scrappy play, Smith was a four-year starter at point guard for the Paladins. The Furman teams of his era won two Southern Conference championships to qualify twice for the NCAA tournament. He captained Furman's 1977-78 team that defeated Clemson , North Carolina and North Carolina State .
“Ron's competitiveness and team commitment helped make him a tremendous college athlete,” says Clark . “Those qualities drive him as a coach, too.”