"Joe was a pioneer in the world of women's basketball," Christ the King girls basketball coach Bob Mackey said. "He was doing it before it was fashionable, before anybody else. He had a world of knowledge and I would have loved to have seen Joe Smith write a book on the history of women's basketball. I think it would have been a very interesting perspective."

If there was a big high-school game being played, Smith was there. He'd take a train to Immaculata in New Jersey and fly out to the West Coast for an important AAU tournament.

But Christ the King was his home gym.

"Joe was a fixture here," Mackey said. "He was always here, a gentleman all the way."

Smith's death last week from cancer sent shockwaves through women's basketball, both locally and nationally. The news of his death was circulated in a blast e-mail by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. And his service was attended by numerous coaches, including Texas A&M's Gary Blair and Pat Knapp from Penn.

"He was well-respected in the women's game for his passion of the game, for his dedication to the sport, for him fighting for equal rights for women," said former Christ the King coach Vinny Cannizzaro. "We all lost someone special."

Before Web sites and message boards were launched to evaluate high school talent, Smith was doing it. Often compared to Tom Konchalski, the respected boys' basketball talent evaluator, who ironically also lives in Forest Hills, Smith founded the Women's Basketball News Service, a scouting service that branched into awards and all-star teams that were widely recognized in the media.

"Joe Smith was an amazing man," Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said. "He was a pioneer of the women's game and gave so much of himself for the game. His presence and insight will truly be missed."

The night before he died, Mary Louis star Amanda Burakoski visited Smith, who wasn't conscious at the time, at his hospital bed. The St. John's-bound junior had a simple message.

"I wanted to get a chance to talk to him and thank him for giving me advice and everything," she said.

Mackey said there are plans to honor Smith at the NCAA Division I Final Four and a moment of silence was observed before the Royals' game Saturday against upstate Amsterdam. Perhaps the most fitting tribute for Smith would be the renaming of the annual National Recruiting Showcase, which was also played at Christ the King this weekend, in Smith's memory.