It was in 1968 when a player nicknamed “Lucky” led the Hawaii basketball team in an arena that would be renamed the Blaisdell Center.

Fred “Lucky” Smith felt at home on the Honolulu basketball court, where he dazzled with his ball-handling skills while his 5-year-old son, Steve, served as the Rainbows’ ballboy.

Fred Smith became the Milwaukee Bucks’ sixth-round pick in the 1968 draft; the 5-year-old became a coach for three decades; and a younger son, John Smith, is now Cal Poly’s head basketball coach. In a full-circle scenario, Cal Poly plays Hawaii on Thursday in the Stan Sheriff Center.

John Smith was born in 1969, a year after “Lucky” completed his UH career, but he embraced stories about his father’s basketball experiences.

“My father, who has since passed away, played for Red Rocha at the University of Hawaii,” John Smith said. “My father, my older brother (Steve) and Coach (Jerry) Tarkanian are the main people who have impacted my life and my coaching career.”

“Tark the Shark” coached Lucky Smith at Riverside City College in the 1960s, and then John Smith at UNLV. The younger Smith said playing under Tarkanian and his assistant coaches “really impacted my life as a young kid. I went into coaching at the age of 20 because of them.”

Smith absorbed each advice and tip from the towel-biting Tarkanian. “It was phenomenal playing for Tark,” Smith said. “He was a better man than people realized. He was a father figure. He was a mentor. He really cared about his players. That’s how I try to model myself after. I want my players to know how much I care about them.”

After a successful stint as Cal State Fullerton’s associate head coach — the Titans reached the Big West tournament’s title game the past two years — Smith joined a Cal Poly team that has struggled in recent seasons. Injuries and illnesses have hindered Smith’s attempt to quicken the Mustangs’ offense, much less conduct full practices.

“We’ve had to change up the lineups from time to time, and it’s halted the process,” Smith said. “We’re getting there. Sometimes we’ve had to use our assistant coaches in practices because we’ve had so many injuries and illnesses. It disrupts it a little bit. But we’re finally almost at full strength.”

But Hank Hollingsworth, the tallest Mustang at 6-10, is out for the season because of an injury. The Mustangs have compensated with an inside-outside attack and balanced rotation of up to 11 players. Last Saturday, the Mustangs upset Cal State Northridge 74-56.

“Any time you take over a program, you’re trying to teach guys how to compete, teach guys how to win,” Smith said. “Those are two separate things in itself. It’s a process to accomplish those two things. I’m a competitor. I want to win now. We’re trying to shorten the learning curve in both those areas. We’re getting there. We’re close, but we’re not there yet.”

BIG WEST BASKETBALL

At Stan Sheriff Center

Cal Poly (4-12, 1-1 BWC) vs. Hawaii (10-6, 1-1)

>> When: Thursday, 8 p.m.

>> TV: Spectrum Sports

>> Radio: 1420-AM