John Smith has fond memories of the back yard at his family's old home in Portage.

It was there, where his father, also John, built two sets of rings.

One was for the shot put. There were also two discus rings going in different directions -- one of those for the hammer.

The backyard of Smith's home is where his brother, Dave, trained en route to winning shot and discus state titles in 1987 for Portage.

The backyard is where John Smith trained prep athletes in the weight events from 1980-93.

The backyard is where Smith trained 20 Indiana state champions and five Track and Field News High School All-Americans. Two of his student-athletes were national champs and five were named to the U.S. Junior National Team.

"I miss the backyard," Smith said. "It was the perfect coaching situation. It was coaching at its purest. You didn't have to fight athletic administrators or political correctness. If a kid came over and didn't work hard, you'd tell him to go home and don't come back. It was the way it should be. It was a special place."

Smith, a 1979 Portage grad and former Southern Illinois University All-American, will be inducted into the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches (IATCCC) Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Sheraton Hotel in Indianapolis on Friday night.

Ironically, Smith, the throws coach at SIU, won't be in attendance.

He and his wife, Connie Price-Smith -- a four-time Olympian, and SIU's men's and women's head track coach -- will be coaching at the Indiana University Relays on Friday night and Saturday.

"It's an honor, but I've never really been too much for stuff like that," Smith said. "I'd rather have my athletes do well, than be inducted into the Hall of Fame."

Smith said he'll speak at the IATCCC's clinic Saturday morning, because he'd like to help coaches help other kids.

"I want to help them any way I can, because there's only so many kids I can coach," he said.