Bill Kipouras
They called her Missy, but she hardly ever missed.
Nowadays, Melissa Smock is at least an inch taller than when she arrived at Salem State College as a vaunted women's basketball shooter from Belmont, N.H.
It's not easy to be 5-foot-4 from a village-like town, she found out in high school. Recruiters don't usually pay much attention to small hamlets that have one traffic light.
Smock, however, could light it up on a basketball court, winding up with 1,574 points to finish as the second all-time leading scorer in SSC women's hoop history (she now stands in third place).
"Colleges called me, but when they heard about my size — or lack of it — that would be the end of the phone call," Smock, now 29 and an operations manager for Turfer Athletic in East Providence, R.I., said.
She was among six inductees at the 20th annual Salem State Athletic Hall of Fame dinner at the Ellison Campus Center.
Others included Colleen (Parker) Newbury of Lynn, the 1998 Division 3 NCAA softball batting champion; Bette Bailey, who coached volleyball at SSC for 39 years and captured 423 victories; Eddie Bourgogne Odney, who was born in Haiti and led the Vikings to their first NCAA Final Four basketball appearance; John Perroni, a basketball standout who earned kudos for pacing then-Salem State Teachers College to its first conference baseball title in 1954; and the late Bill Bulloch, the college's legendary head athletic trainer trainer for 32 years.
Smock will always be remembered for playing a giant-killer role in one of the greatest wins in Lady Vikings' hoop history: a 76-60 upset over host Williams College in the NCAA Regionals. That win advanced SSC to the NCAA Division 3 Final Four at Danbury, Conn. in 1999. She was a sophomore on a 29-1 team that finished third nationally.
Tom Roundy, the college's veteran sports information director, looked up Smock's stats in that startling upset: a game-high 25 points, including 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point territory.
"Mr. Roundy was out in the foyer at halftime and actually heard the parents of the Williams players making reservations on the phone for Danbury," Smock recalled. "The team really got pumped up when he told us about that," the two-time Kodak regional All-America said.
A member of four NCAA tournament teams, Smock was discovered by former assistant and scout Charlie Maihos in an all-star game. He was probably there to watch Katie Duffy, who played for Winnisquam, next door to Belmont.
"Charlie liked them both, and three of us (including assistant Paul coach Enfento) went to watch them play against each other," SSC head coach Tim Shea said. "Missy maybe the most underestimated prospect we had here in my 28 years.
"An incredible stat on her is that she averaged 4 1/2 rebounds a game — and weighed no more than 100-120 pounds," head coach Tim Shea said. "(She) knew where to be; knew the game. I'm amazed and thankful she didn't land up in Division 2."
Bulloch passed away two months ago after a lengthy battle with cancer.
"Our daughter Krystal and I met so many Salem State people who came to pay their respects to Bill that we concluded he had two families: ours and Salem State," Betty Bulloch, Bill's wife, said.
Salem State hockey coach Bill O'Neill, who presented Bulloch into the Hall, had some emotional moments in addressing "The Bull," as Bulloch was known.
"Bill reminded me that it was he who brought me to Salem State 27 years ago," O'Neill. said. "I'm not sure if I've met a man who was more respected, had more courage (in his fight against cancer) or was more professional. He was truly an icon here. I and many others were inspired by Bill Bulloch.
"I feel his presence here tonight," O'Neill went on. "His lifestyle was his family, his friends, how he lived his life. He never changed his approach. Salem State has lost a treasure."
One of his student trainer graduates, Chris Orlando of Gloucester, said it best: "Bill Bullock will always be in my heart."
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Bill Kipouras can be reached at bkipouras@salemnews.com or 978-338-2615.
