Kenneth J. "Speedy" Smith Jr. (born January 28, 1993) is an American professional

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 for

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's leadi ...

of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He was named

Conference USA Men's Basketball Player of the Year The Conference USA Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to Conference USA's (C-USA) most outstanding player. The award was first given following C-USA's inaugural 1995–96 season. Two players have received the award mult ...

in 2015.

Early life

Smith was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida and attended

Boca Ciega High School Boca Ciega High School (BCHS), commonly referred to as Bogie by students, staff, and county residents, is an American four-year public high school in Gulfport, Florida, just south of the St. Petersburg city line, and is part of the Pinellas County ...

in Gulfport. He was given the nickname, Speedy, after his grandmother said, "That's Speedy" when he was born. Smith grew up as an athletics star and started out with football. Smith primarily played the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

position, his father saying, "I actually thought football was his better sport. He was a leader all the way through. He knew how to prepare his players and get them in the right position on the field." However, Smith later chose to start playing basketball because he felt that it would lower his chance of getting injured. As a senior playing basketball for Boca Ciega, Smith averaged 18 points, 9.6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.

College career

Smith played four years of college basketball for

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

. In 140 games, he averaged 6.2 points, 6.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, earning C-USA Defensive Player of the Year honors as a junior and C-USA Player of the Year honors as a senior. As a senior in 2014–15, he tallied 7.4 assists (5th in the NCAA), 6.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.9 steals, as he finished his career with 118 career starts (tied for the third most in program history) and finished as the school's career leader in total assists (858) and steals (258).

Professional career

In June 2015, Smith had pre-draft workouts with the Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers,

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

, Boston Celtics and

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

. However, he went through the workouts at less than 100 percent as he nursed an ankle injury suffered earlier that year. He had hopes of being a late second-round pick, but ultimately went undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft.

VEF Rīga (2015)

On August 11, 2015, Smith signed a two-year deal with VEF Rīga of the Latvian Basketball League. However, on November 24, he was released by Rīga after appearing in three league games and eight

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it ...

games.

Los Angeles D-Fenders (2016—2017)

On January 6, 2016, Smith was acquired by the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League. He made his debut on January 9 in a 118–113 loss to the

Canton Charge The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland. The fr ...

, recording three points, two rebounds and six assists in 13 minutes of action. On October 30, Smith was reacquired by the Los Angeles D-Fenders.

Grand Rapids Drive (2017–2019)

On October 13, 2017, Smith was traded to the

Grand Rapids Drive The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anaheim ...

Szolnoki Olaj (2019)

On July 26, 2019, Smith signed with Szolnoki Olaj of the NB I/A.

Spirou Basket (2019–2020)

On December 19, 2019, he has signed with Spirou Basket of the Belgian

Pro Basketball League The Pro Basketball League (PBL), was the highest tier level professional basketball league in Belgium for sports clubs, clubs. In 2021, the league was succeeded by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League. Through 2014, for sponsorship reasons, the league ...

. The season was cancelled in March because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Maccabi Haifa (2020)

On May 28, 2020, Smith signed with

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

of the Israeli Basketball Premier League for the remainder of the 2019-2020 season.

Antwerp Giants (2020)

On April 8, 2020,

Antwerp Giants Antwerp Giants, named Telenet Giants Antwerp for sponsorship reasons, are a Belgians, Belgian professional basketball club based in Antwerp. Their home arena is Lotto Arena. The club plays in the BNXT League, the highest tier of Belgian basketbal ...

announced Smith as its first signing for the 2020–21 season.

Limoges CSP (2020–2021)

On December 12, 2020,

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

announced Smith as its new guard signing for the rest of the season in replacement of DeMarcus Nelson .

BC Rytas (2021–2022)

On September 19, 2021, Smith signed with

BC Rytas Rytas Vilnius is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Vilnius, Lithuania. The club was founded in 1997 from another club, Statyba, and has become one of the most successful Lithuanian basketball clubs. Rytas have won two EuroCup ...

of the Lithuanian league. On June 7 Smith has won the LKL championship, winning series final 4-1.

Hapoel Jerusalem (2022–present)

On July 10, 2022, Smith signed with

of the Israeli Israeli Basketball Premier League.

Personal life

On November 15, 2005 at 2:06 AM, Smith's non-biological brother, Dalvontae Coley, was allegedly shot by two masked men that entered his apartment complex, which was located in St. Petersburg, Florida, at 22 years of age. Coley's death affected Smith considerably, as he often "looked up to his older brother." He said, "I always think about what if he was here right now."

References

External links

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs bioLa. Tech's Smith eager to show he's more than passer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Speedy 1993 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in Latvia American men's basketball players Basketball players from St. Petersburg, Florida BK VEF Rīga players Grand Rapids Drive players Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. players Los Angeles D-Fenders players Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball players Point guards Spirou Charleroi players Szolnoki Olaj KK players