Full speed ahead for new Lady Rebels coach

John David Smelser took the saying “hit the ground running” to a different level.

He was officially approved as the new Vestavia Hills High School girls basketball coach on April 29 during the mid-afternoon hours. Soon after, he met with Laura Casey, the former head coach of the Lady Rebels who resigned following last season. 

After meeting with Casey, Smelser went straight into another meeting, this one with the rest of the program’s coaching staff. Then, he was introduced to the players and had a brief talk with them. From there, he was taken to the gymnasium to meet the parents. 

All of those meetings took place within a couple hours. But his day wasn’t done yet.

Thirty minutes later, he was running tryouts with his new team.

“I slept good that night, I’ll tell you that much,” Smelser said.

Smelser comes from Tuscaloosa Academy, where he led the girls basketball program to consecutive state championships in the Alabama Independent School Association in 2018 and 2019.

He said telling his Tuscaloosa Academy team of his departure was “probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” but the opportunity presented by the Vestavia Hills program was simply too good to pass up. He also mentioned the positive things he has heard about the community and school system, an important aspect of the move for Smelser and his wife, Claire.

Casey’s final season in charge of the Vestavia Hills program was certainly a successful one, as the Lady Rebels posted an 18-10 record.

“I started to watch some film on them,” Smelser said of the Lady Rebels. “The more I watched, the more I started falling in love with that team; the potential they had, they were young, what was coming back.”

Smelser brings that recent track record of success from Tuscaloosa Academy with him and said he emphasizes defense above all when building a basketball team.

“I believe if you can make teams take contested shots, you can keep them out of the paint, you can get down and guard and rebound, I think you’ve got a shot to win most games you play in,” he said.

Through his first week of being in the program, one aspect of the team had already made a big impression on Smelser.

“I can tell their parents are raising them right because they do everything as hard as they can and they’re very respectful,” he said.

Smelser played baseball and basketball at Hillcrest High in Tuscaloosa and said basketball was his passion, despite the fact he played baseball in college at Jacksonville State, Shelton State and University of Alabama. 

After college, he spent a year as a graduate assistant at East Tennessee State between stints at Tuscaloosa Academy, first as an assistant coach and then as the head coach for the girls team the last two years. His most recent state champion team was named the national champion by the National Athletic Association of Private Schools.

While Vestavia Hills may not win a national championship next winter, Smelser doesn’t believe he faces a rebuilding project. He sees a team and program equipped to win sooner rather than later.

“I want to come in and compete immediately,” he said. “Obviously we’re in a tough area with Mountain Brook, Spain Park and Hewitt-Trussville, but that’s what makes it fun. … We want to compete and get to the playoffs right now, immediately.”