Adrian Smith (basketball)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Adrian Howard "Odie" Smith (born October 5, 1936) is an American former professional basketball player.


Early life

Smith was the fifth of six children of Oury and Ruth Smith of Farmington, Kentucky. The family lived in a farmhouse that had no electricity and no indoor plumbing. He was nicknamed "Odie" after a comedian on the Grand Ole Opry. As a child, he attended a three-room schoolhouse in rural
Graves County, Kentucky Graves County is a county located on the southwest border of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,649. Its county seat is Mayfield. The county was formed in 1824 and was named for Major Benjamin Fra ...
. Because the family didn't have money for a basketball, he learned to shoot one his mother made from rolling up his dad's socks. He attended Farmington High School, where he nearly didn't play high school basketball until the school's principal/basketball coach agreed to give him a ride home (a distance of seven miles) after practices. As a senior, his only scholarship offer was from nearby Murray State University, but he took too long to accept and the offer was withdrawn.


College career

Smith enrolled to play basketball at Northeast Mississippi Junior College (now known as
Northeast Mississippi Community College Northeast Mississippi Community College (NEMCC) is a public community college in Booneville, Mississippi. History The college was founded in 1948 as ''Northeast Mississippi Junior College,'' and became known primarily as an agricultural school a ...
). After Smith excelled on the court, Northeast coach Bonner Arnold convinced legendary
University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...
coach
Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Univ ...
to send a scout to see Smith, and UK offered a scholarship. Smith didn't see much action his junior season until Kentucky's star guard, Vernon Hatton, went out with an appendectomy, and for seven games, Smith averaged 16.3 points. As a senior, Smith was a starter and averaged 12.4 points per game. The Wildcats' team, known as the "Fiddlin' Five", beat Seattle University 84-72 to win the 1957–58 national championship, led by 30 points from Hatton and 24 from Johnny Cox. Smith averaged just under 14 points in UK's four NCAA tourney wins, including seven in the championship game. Smith graduated from Kentucky with a business degree.


After college

He was selected 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 ...
, but not until the 15th round (85th overall) by the
Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...
. Instead of attempting to make the Royals, he joined the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
, where he played on the Army's all-star team and in 1960 was selected to play on the eventual undefeated U.S. men's basketball team that won the gold medal in the
1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olymp ...
in Rome, Italy. The team went 8-0 in the Olympics, led by future hall-of-famers
Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson playe ...
,
Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State, and 1960 gold medal Olympian and international player before later starring as a p ...
, and
Jerry West Jerome Alan West (born May 28, 1938) is an American basketball executive and former player. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames included "Mr. Clutch", for his ability ...
, although in the opening win against host
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, Smith was the team's leading scorer, with 17 points scored. The team's average margin of victory in the eight games was 42.4 points per game.


Professional career

Smith began his professional career in the
1961–62 NBA season The 1961–62 NBA season was the 16th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their 4th straight NBA title, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences ...
. During his first three seasons, he served as a backup guard behind
Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson playe ...
and Bucky Bockhorn, averaging about 20 minutes per game with scoring averages of 7.2, 8.9, and 9.4, respectively. In his fourth season of 1964–65, he became a starter in the Royals' backcourt alongside Robertson. Playing over 34 minutes per game, he averaged 15.1 points per game, with a .456 field goal percentage and .830 free throw percentage. The 1965–66 season was both his most productive and noteworthy. He averaged a career-high 18.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game as the Royals went 45-35 and, in the Eastern Division semifinals, extended the Boston Celtics to a fifth and deciding game before falling to the eventual NBA champions. On December 15 he scored a career-high 34 points against the Celtics, and followed that up on January 5 with another career-high of 35 points. During the season, Smith was selected to the 1966 NBA All-Star Game and, surprisingly for a game that including sixteen future Hall-of-Famers, Smith was named MVP after he scored 24 points in 26 minutes. It was his only All-Star appearance, and for winning the MVP award, he received a new
Ford Galaxie The Ford Galaxie is a full-sized car that was built in the United States by Ford for model years 1959 through to 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford's full-size range from 1958 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the e ...
car. In his sixth NBA season, 1966–67, Smith averaged 16.6 points per game and led the NBA with a .903 free throw percentage and, for the fourth time, the durable Smith led the league in games played. In 1967–68, Smith averaged 15.6 points per game in his last year as a starter. In 1968–69, playing primarily as a backup to Robertson and Tom Van Arsdale, Smith averaged 9.6 ponts per game. In the 1969–70 season, after 32 games with the Royals, Smith was traded to the
San Francisco Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 1 ...
, for whom he played another 45 games, averaging 5.9 points per game for the season. In 1970–71, his 10th NBA season, he played only 21 games, averaging 5.3 points per game in his final NBA season. In 1971–72 he played for the American Basketball Association's
Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, ...
, averaging 5.1 points per game. He also played 13 times for the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.


Honors

The entire 1960 USA Olympic basketball team, including Smith, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on August 13, 2010. Smith is also a member of the Northeast Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame.


Life after basketball

After 11 seasons of playing professional basketball, Smith became a banker, working for many years as a commercial relationship manager for
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
-based
Fifth Third Bank Fifth Third Bank (5/3 Bank), the principal subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp is an American bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fifth Third is one of the largest consumer banks in the Midwestern United States, Fifth Third ...
. He currently is a vice president for Fifth-Third Bank. He resides in Cincinnati with his wife, Paula, in the only house they've ever owned—and he still has the Ford Galaxie he won from the 1966 NBA All-Star Game.


NBA/ABA career statistics


Regular season


Playoffs


References


External links


NBA stats
@ databasebasketball.com
One-on-One with Adrian SmithThe Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of FameNortheast Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame1960 United States Olympic Team page at The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Book, Cincinnati's Basketball Royalty by Gerry Schultz {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Adrian 1936 births Living people Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American bankers American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1959 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Kentucky Cincinnati Royals draft picks Cincinnati Royals players Northeast Mississippi Tigers basketball players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics National Basketball Association All-Stars Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball People from Graves County, Kentucky Shooting guards San Francisco Warriors players United States men's national basketball team players Virginia Squires players Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games