Dan Smith of Denton was a standout player on Howard Payne Coach Glen Whitis’ championship basketball teams and remains in the top three in all-time Yellow Jacket scoring and rebounding. Smith was an all-state player at Denton High and served three years in the Navy and played a season at TCU before enrolling at Howard Payne. He was First Team All-Lone Star Conference three times, honorable mention All-American in 1967, LSC Most Valuable Player in 1968 and NAIA All-American in 1968. He played on three LSC Conference championship teams and NAIA Tournament teams in 1966 and 1967. Smith scored a then-school record 47 points against McMurry in 1968, breaking his old mark of 40 set in 1965 against Angelo State. Smith is third in career scoring, career rebounds and career field goals and fourth in career free throws. After his last season, he was drafted by the American Basketball Association’s Houston Mavericks in 1968, but went into coaching and teaching. He moved back to Denton in 1978 to work in the family concrete business and taught in Denton ISD. He died in 2016.