FAYETTEVILLE — An amended bankruptcy filing Wednesday showed Arkansas Coach John L. Smith is nearly $15 million further in debt than he had previously disclosed.
The filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fayetteville showed that the Razorbacks football coach has more than $40.6 million in liabilities and $1.3 million in assets.
In a filing recorded Sept. 19, Smith reported $25.7 million in liabilities and $1.2 million in assets.
Smith has only briefly commented publicly on his financial difficulties, saying they have not been a distraction to the team. He was not available for comment on Wednesday.
Fayetteville attorney Jill Jacoway, who is handling Smith’s bankruptcy, was taking depositions Wednesday afternoon and did not immediately return a phone call from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Jacoway disclosed in the filing that she has received $20,000 from Smith to handle the bankruptcy.
The rise in Smith’s liabilities from the Sept. 19 filing appears to be $15 million in debt owed to Branch Banking & Trust in Louisville, Ky., which did not show up on previous documents.
Smith’s filing claimed the $15 million was the “debt of Terra Springs with debtor’s personal guarantee” and he wasn’t sure of the exact amount of the debt “but is in excess of $15 million. This debt may have been sold to others.”
The filing also shows a debt of $20 million to Terra Springs LLC, a Louisville based company.
Smith, the head coach at Louisville from 1998-2002, said during the summer that he and other partners in Louisville got in “way over our heads” on real estate and development deals and began running into problems when the housing market began to suffer.
The amended filing appears to show that Smith recently cashed in a life insurance policy, some stocks and a joint annuity with his wife, Diana, to pay bills and bolster his checking account.
Smith now shows $22,000 in his checking account and his latest filing claims he has $300 in pocket money.
In an effort to liquidate his debts, Smith filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Sept. 6, adding to a stretch of personal setbacks.
In addition to the bankruptcy, Smith’s Razorbacks, ranked No. 10 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, is off to a 1-4 start. Smith’s younger brother, 53-year-old Bart Smith of Idaho Falls, Idaho, also died Sept. 17.
Sports, Pages 17 on 10/04/2012