\u201cIt means everything to me, the Carter community, the program,\u201d Love said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been so close so many years.\u201d<\/p>\n
This special opportunity will intersect with yet another. <\/p>\n
Carter, which will play La Marque in the 4A Division II state championship game Friday at the Alamodome in San Antonio<\/a>, could be one of three Dallas ISD teams to win a state title this weekend. Defending state champion Kimball<\/a>, led by coach Nicke Smith, will compete for the 4A Division I crown and Madison<\/a>, led by Smith\u2019s younger brother, Gerald Smith, will vie for the 3A Division I title. <\/p>\n High School Sports<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe thrill of three Dallas ISD schools being able to participate in the state championship is something that\u2019s historic,\u201d Gerald said. \u201cIt\u2019s the first time something like this is ever happening.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a perk of the UIL\u2019s controversial basketball playoff format<\/a>, which starting last season split postseason qualifiers into two divisions per classification based on enrollment. But it\u2019s also a testament to Dallas ISD\u2019s 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<\/a>, but most of its member schools, battling shrinking enrollment, haven\u2019t had the same success on the gridiron.<\/p>\n This hasn\u2019t been so when it comes to hoops. The Lincoln girls repeated as 4A Division I champs last week<\/a>. 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. <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n But culture has transcended numbers in Dallas ISD.<\/p>\n \u201cFootball is coming up. We\u2019ve got some good things happening at some of the schools,\u201d Nicke Smith said. \u201cBut basketball has always been there.\u201d<\/p>\n Coaching brotherhood<\/p>\n Nicke Smith doesn\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n 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\u2019s coach.<\/p>\n Gerald, a former assistant of Nicke\u2019s, is trying for his first state title.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be sitting there behind the bench,\u201d Nicke said. \u201cIf he needs me to help say something, I will. We\u2019re all Dallas ISD, we\u2019re all rooting for each other. Whatever I\u2019ve got to do to help him accomplish his goal. \u2026 I am really, really proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n That\u2019s partly because the two coaches aren\u2019t just respected colleagues, but friends.<\/p>\n \u201cCoach [Nicke] Smith is like a brother to me. Him and his brother, Gerald,\u201d Love said. \u201cWhen we\u2019re not coaching basketball, we\u2019re spending time together off the court. I call him about things. He calls me about things. It\u2019s a match made in heaven for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Continuing the legacy<\/p>\n Love graduated from South Oak Cliff in 1987 and played basketball under legendary coach Jimmy Gales.<\/p>\n He kind of stumbled into coaching in Dallas ISD. Love didn\u2019t have a job when former SOC coach Rodney Reed approached him to be an assistant coach for the program in 1997. He\u2019s been in the district ever since, completing stints at SOC, Spruce and now Carter.<\/p>\n \u201cI think DISD is one of the toughest basketball districts you could play in,\u201d Love said. \u201cI don\u2019t think people realize every year, we\u2019ve got a state championship, or we\u2019ve got somebody going to state in basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cI don\u2019t know what it is, but the culture here is just win, win, win. And we\u2019ve got great players, we\u2019ve got great coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n Kimball coach Nicke Smith, who has been in the district since 1998, said he and Love are veterans in the district. They\u2019re still contending for championships, and up and comers are starting to make an impact, too.<\/p>\n \u201cDallas ISD athletics are competitive again,\u201d Smith said. \u201cYou\u2019re getting talent in the schools now. You\u2019re getting good coaching. We\u2019ve got a lot of good, young coaches in our district now.\u201d<\/p>\n Summit returned only three of the seven players it fielded in last year\u2019s state final, but made it back to San Antonio regardless.<\/p>\n Your one-stop shop for the 2026 Texas high school boys basketball state finals.<\/p>\n Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Summit\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WMNNORR5EVAT3MLROVQ5JQQZYI.jpg\")
<\/a>Mansfield Summit has overcome roster turnover, injuries for chance to defend state title<\/a><\/p>\n![\"North](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773318848_623_P65PTZPIBFA6JHHMY3BGDZ7UQM.jpg\")
<\/a>UIL boys hoops state championship central: Schedule and more for Dallas-area teams<\/a><\/p>\n