James William Smith-Betsil (December 12, 1934 – May 5, 2002) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and political activist. He was an All-American college player at the College of Steubenville (now

Franciscan University of Steubenville Franciscan University of Steubenville is a private Franciscan university in Steubenville, Ohio. The university had 3,040 students as of fall 2019, including 2,317 students on campus, in 40 undergraduate and 8 graduate degree programs. The studen ...

) and was a second-round pick in the

1958 NBA draft The 1958 NBA draft was the 12th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 22, 1958, before the 1958–59 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

. Smith was born James Betsil and played his first two years of high school basketball at

Taylor Allderdice High School Taylor Allderdice High School is a public high school in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It opened in 1927 and is part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools district. It was named for industrialist and Squir ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. During the Summer before his junior year, he transferred to Homestead High School in

Homestead, Pennsylvania Homestead is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, in the Monongahela River valley southeast of downtown Pittsburgh and directly across the river from the city limit line. The borough is known for the Homestead Strike of 1892, an imp ...

. He made the move largely to increase his chances of playing college basketball, going so far as to move in with a local family (who became his legal guardians) and legally changing his name to James Smith. Following his high school career, Smith went to Steubenville for college, becoming perhaps the greatest player in school history. He was twice named an All-American, averaged over 20 rebounds per game and scored 2,048 points for his career. Following the close of his college career, Smith was drafted in the second round of the 1958 NBA draft (15th pick overall) by the Boston Celtics.1958 NBA draft @ basketball-reference.com, accessed November 30, 2014
/ref> However, he was drafted into the United States Army as well. Smith was discharged in 1960 due to knee problems, injuries that ultimately derailed his professional basketball career. Smith ultimately became an activist for racial integration and later a public servant. He died on May 5, 2002, due to complications from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

References

External links

College stats @ the Draft Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jimmy 1934 births 2002 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Basketball players from Pittsburgh Boston Celtics draft picks College men's basketball players in the United States Deaths from leukemia Franciscan University of Steubenville alumni Power forwards (basketball) American men's basketball players