__NOTOC__ Larry Smith (born June 4, 1968) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player.

High school career

At the conclusion of his senior year, Smith was a unanimous All-State pick while playing for

Alton High School Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia * Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario * Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealan ...

. He was named Co- News-Gazette Player of the Year with former

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

great Nick Anderson. Smith was also named MVP in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All-Star game. Smith was also named a Street and Smith All-American at the conclusion of his senior year at Alton. During his high school playing time, Smith averaged 24.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 4.1 steals per game in his senior season.

College career

1986-87 season

As a freshman, Smith appeared in 20 games while averaging 5.4 minutes. He totaled 38 points and dished out 16 assists.

1987-88 season

During Smith's sophomore season, his playing time jumped to nearly 13 minutes per game, including five starts out of the 20 games he played. Amazingly, Smith played only 18 minutes against

Chicago State Chicago State University (CSU) is a predominantly black public university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1867 as the Cook County Normal School, it was an innovative teachers college. Eventually the Chicago Public Schools assumed control of t ...

, but scored 16 points on 6 of 8 shooting. Finally, he was third on the team with 80 assists.

1988-89 season

Smith was an instrumental force in the

1988–89 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team The 1988–89 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season The 1988-89 team may have been the most talented team ever assembled at the University of Illinois. The team was so athletic tha ...

's drive to the Final Four. He started nine games during that season and played in all 36. Smith led the

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

in assists, dishing out 157 (4.4 per game) during that same season. His aggressive play off the bench sparked the Fighting Illini's running game while helping Illinois to a team average 86.4 points per game, its highest since 1966. Smith quarterbacked the Illinois offense in the stretch run, despite not being a starter. It was Smith who scored 12 points consecutively against Purdue and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, as Illinois kicked off a 10-game winning streak that included

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

wins over

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and five consecutive NCAA victories.

1990-91 season

Smith experienced a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

season in 1989-90 which moved his fourth year of eligibility to the 1990-91 season. During that season, Smith was named a co-captain and started 29 of 31 games. He scored 394 total points while averaging 13.6 points per game. Smith made 24 of 63 three-point field goals and 90 of 129 free throws. He led the team in assists with 144, an average of 4.96 per game.

References

External links

*
Illini Get A Big Lift From Smith
'.

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

. February 27, 1989. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Larry 1968 births Living people Basketball players from Illinois Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Point guards American men's basketball players