Dallas ISD’s basketball culture is on display as Carter, Kimball and Madison head to state

Lyndon Love’s long suffering could soon come to an end.

The coach watched his Carter teams lose in the regional finals five straight times from 2021 to 2025, and when he served as head coach at Spruce in the 2000s, the school went through a reorganization in 2008 that put Love out of a job and axed what could have very well been a state championship season.

But Love and Carter made it over the hump this year and will compete for his and the program’s first state championship.

“It means everything to me, the Carter community, the program,” Love said. “We’ve been so close so many years.”

This special opportunity will intersect with yet another.

Carter, which will play La Marque in the 4A Division II state championship game Friday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, could be one of three Dallas ISD teams to win a state title this weekend. Defending state champion Kimball, led by coach Nicke Smith, will compete for the 4A Division I crown and Madison, led by Smith’s younger brother, Gerald Smith, will vie for the 3A Division I title.

High School Sports

“The thrill of three Dallas ISD schools being able to participate in the state championship is something that’s historic,” Gerald said. “It’s the first time something like this is ever happening.”

It’s a perk of the UIL’s controversial basketball playoff format, which starting last season split postseason qualifiers into two divisions per classification based on enrollment. But it’s also a testament to Dallas ISD’s vibrant basketball culture, arguably unlike any other in the state. The district boasts a football juggernaut in South Oak Cliff, which last December won its third state championship since 2021, but most of its member schools, battling shrinking enrollment, haven’t had the same success on the gridiron.

This hasn’t been so when it comes to hoops. The Lincoln girls repeated as 4A Division I champs last week. The Kimball boys won the 4AI crown last year and have the chance to defend it this weekend, as its Dallas ISD brethren, Carter and Madison, try to make their mark.

All three schools have dominated, despite their decreasing school sizes, which tend to be more of a factor in football. For the latest UIL realignment cycle, Carter turned in an enrollment of 930, down almost 150 students from two years ago. Kimball, which moved down from 5A in 2024, most recently turned in an enrollment of 1,174, down about 100 students from last cycle. Madison, about three miles from downtown Dallas, has just 288 students and turned in an enrollment of 391 last cycle.

But culture has transcended numbers in Dallas ISD.

“Football is coming up. We’ve got some good things happening at some of the schools,” Nicke Smith said. “But basketball has always been there.”

Coaching brotherhood

Nicke Smith doesn’t need to take the court at the Alamodome until 5 p.m. Friday, when Kimball faces Fort Bend Crawford in the 4A Division I final.

But he plans to be there in the crowd when Madison meets Orangefield in the 3A Division I state final at 11 a.m. His support will go beyond just supporting a fellow Dallas ISD team, as his younger brother of seven years, Gerald Smith, serves as Madison’s coach.

Gerald, a former assistant of Nicke’s, is trying for his first state title.

“I’ll be sitting there behind the bench,” Nicke said. “If he needs me to help say something, I will. We’re all Dallas ISD, we’re all rooting for each other. Whatever I’ve got to do to help him accomplish his goal. … I am really, really proud of him.”

Nicke also hopes Carter gets the win. Love feels the same about Kimball, even though he enjoyed sweeping the rival program and defending champ in district play this year.

That’s partly because the two coaches aren’t just respected colleagues, but friends.

“Coach [Nicke] Smith is like a brother to me. Him and his brother, Gerald,” Love said. “When we’re not coaching basketball, we’re spending time together off the court. I call him about things. He calls me about things. It’s a match made in heaven for us.”

Continuing the legacy

Love graduated from South Oak Cliff in 1987 and played basketball under legendary coach Jimmy Gales.

He kind of stumbled into coaching in Dallas ISD. Love didn’t have a job when former SOC coach Rodney Reed approached him to be an assistant coach for the program in 1997. He’s been in the district ever since, completing stints at SOC, Spruce and now Carter.

“I think DISD is one of the toughest basketball districts you could play in,” Love said. “I don’t think people realize every year, we’ve got a state championship, or we’ve got somebody going to state in basketball.”

He continued: “I don’t know what it is, but the culture here is just win, win, win. And we’ve got great players, we’ve got great coaches.”

Kimball coach Nicke Smith, who has been in the district since 1998, said he and Love are veterans in the district. They’re still contending for championships, and up and comers are starting to make an impact, too.

“Dallas ISD athletics are competitive again,” Smith said. “You’re getting talent in the schools now. You’re getting good coaching. We’ve got a lot of good, young coaches in our district now.”

Mansfield Summit has overcome roster turnover, injuries for chance to defend state title