Russ Smith

Russ Antoin Smith (born April 19, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Nardò of Serie A2, the second division in Italy.

Smith was named to the 2009 New York State Sportswriters Association all-state team, made the first-team all-CHSAA "AA", and New York Daily News All-Queens first team as a senior.

He played in the 2009 Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game at Madision Square Garden on April 18.

Where he scored 27 points and earned co-MVP honors as his City team beat the Suburban team 129–120.

Assistant coaches Ralph Willard and Steve Masiello were on a recruiting trip in South Kent in September 2009, looking at another player.

They saw Smith, who they thought would be perfect for their system.

Masiello had also known Smith's father since he was 15.

Louisville started looking at Smith seriously, and Smith liked Louisville so much that he tried to commit before he had a scholarship offer.

Upon coming to school, Smith chose uniform #2.

Injuries limited Smith's playing time as a freshman.

He had a broken foot, concussion, strained foot, and sore knee during the season and only saw action in 17 games.

Smith was so miserable with the injuries and lack of playing time he decided to leave Louisville and go back home.

But that day against West Virginia, coach Pitino put him in and told him to play hard.

He had 3 points, 2 rebounds, one steal, and played good defense in his nine minutes of action.

Helping spark the Cardinals' comeback from down 11 to win by 1, when Peyton Siva hit a layup at the buzzer.

After that, he decided to stay.

Russ played prep school basketball at South Kent School in 2010 averaging 19.7 points and 3.9 assists a game as South Kent went 20–12 on the season.

Louisville overlooked Smith at first.

Louisville finished the season 25–10, 12–6 in the 2010–11 Big East season tied for 3rd in the conference.

The Cardinals reached the championship game of the 2011 Big East men's basketball tournament but lost to Connecticut.

They received an at-large bid and a #4 seed in the 2011 NCAA tournament where they were upset in the second round by #13 seeded Morehead State 61–62.

During his sophomore year in 2011–12, Smith provided a spark off the bench.

He was second in scoring despite being sixth in mins played for the Cardinals.

In January 2012 he earned the nickname "Russdiculous" given to him by head coach Rick Pitino, who has named a race horse "Russdiculous" also.

Smith set a school record for steals in a season with 87 steals in his 39 games played.

Louisville won four games in four nights to win the 2012 Big East tournament championship.

The Cardinals advanced to the Final Four of the 2012 NCAA tournament, upsetting #1 seed Michigan State 57–44 in the sweet sixteen and defeating #7 seed Florida in the regional final, where Smith led Louisville with 19 points in the game.

Before losing in the national semifinals to arch-rival and eventual national champion Kentucky.

Smith averaged 11.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 2.2 steals a game for the Cardinals, who finished the season with a 30–10 record.

Before the start of the 2012–13 basketball season the Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team was picked to finish 1st in the Big East Conference in polls done by Big East writers and coaches.

Louisville finished the regular season with a 26–5 record and 14–4 in the Big East to tie for a share of the Big East regular season championship with Georgetown and Marquette, who also finished with a 14–4 conference record.

He played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals, playing a starring role as a junior in helping them win the 2013 NCAA championship, while earning third-team All-American by the NABC and the Sporting News.

As a senior at Louisville, he was named a consensus first-team All-American.

, his 65-point performance remains the NBA G League single game scoring record.

Smith was born in New York City at NY Presbyterian Hospital to Paulette A. O'Neal and Russell Smith.

He went to Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, N.Y. and played basketball for head coach Jack Curran.

He led the New York City Catholic league (CHSAA) in scoring as a junior averaging 24.5 points a game and as a senior averaging 29.6 points, he also had a 7.3 rebound and 3.2 assist average his final season for the Molloy Stanners.

His career high in points was 47, which he reached twice as a senior against St. Francis Prep and Christ the King.

Smith learned about the death of his high school coach Jack Curran before the start of the 2013 Big East tournament.

Louisville played Villanova in their first game of the tournament, Smith scored 28 points and said "Today was definitely Coach Curran Day for me, and it will be the rest of my life" in postgame interview that aired live on ESPN.