Todd Day

American basketball player

Todd Fitzgerald Day (born January 7, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. Day is the all time leading scorer at the University of Arkansas, and played eight seasons in the NBA.

Day played for his stepfather, Ted Anderson at Memphis's Hamilton High School, where he was a McDonald's All American and a third team Parade All American. He also earned All State and All District honors during his prep career. Day was named Tennessee's Mr. Basketball for Class AAA following his senior year in 1988.

Day played college basketball at the University of Arkansas for coach Nolan Richardson, and was a four year letterman ('89,'90,'91 and '92). He averaged 6.3 points per game during the tournament, while helping the last collegiate team ever to represent the USA on a major international tournament win the bronze medal.

Day was selected in the 1st round (8th pick) by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1992 NBA draft. Day only reached the playoffs once in his eight NBA seasons, with the 1999 00 Phoenix Suns. In nine games that postseason, Day contributed to a first round upset of the defending champion San Antonio Spurs and a second round loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. During his NBA career, Day also played for the Miami Heat, the Phoenix Suns and the Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging 12.3 points per game. Day joined the Arkansas Rimrockers for their inaugural season in the ABA basketball league in 2004–05. In their only season in the league, the Rimrockers had a record of 32–5, defeating the Bellevue Blackhawks 118–103 in Alltel Arena for the league championship. Day finished the game with 32 points and 6 steals. Day was named 1st Team All ABA and was an ABA All Star. Day helped Rayyan (Qatar) win the 16th FedEx FIBA Asia Champions Cup in 2005, scoring 24 points in the victory over Fastlink (Jordan). Day signed a free agent contract with the Detroit Pistons, but was released in training camp. Day returned to the ABA for the 2006–07 season, playing with the Arkansas Aeros. He was selected to play in the ABA All Star Game on January 28, 2007, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Day was averaging 21.4 points per game prior to the All Star Game. Day also had a stint playing for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Day was named head coach for the Arkansas Impact of the Premier Basketball League, in December 2007. The Impact began their season in January 2008 and played their home games in Little Rock's Barton Coliseum, but are no longer in operation. Day led the Impact to the 2008 Championship Game, losing to the Rochester Razorsharks 142–112. Day entered high school coaching when he was named head coach at the Memphis Academy of Health and Sciences, where he coached for five seasons. He became the head coach at his alma mater, Hamilton High School, when former head coach Keelon Lawson resigned to join Josh Pastner's staff at the University of Memphis. He also worked as an assistant coach for Team Penny, a Memphis based AAU team founded by head coach Penny Hardaway. In June 2016, Day was named head coach of the Men's Basketball program at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, AR. His son T. J. Day serves as an assistant coach for the team.

Todd Day was inducted as a member of the 2008 class of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, and he was one of nine former Razorbacks inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame in November 2015. Day is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.