Chris Smith (basketball, born 1999)
![]() Smith in November 2019 | |
No. 5 – UCLA Bruins | |
---|---|
Position | Shooting guard / Small forward |
League | Pac-12 Conference |
Personal information | |
Born | Chicago, Illinois | December 24, 1999
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
Listed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | |
College | UCLA (2017–present) |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Sean Christian Smith (born December 24, 1999) is an American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins of the Pac-12 Conference. He earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a junior in 2020, when he was also named the conference's most improved player.
Early life and high school career
Smith's father, Sean, was his coach in middle school. During his first two years at Fort Worth Country Day School, Smith was the quarterback on his football team in addition to playing basketball. He grew nine inches between his freshman and sophomore years in high school.[1][2] He transferred to Huntington Prep School. In January 2017, Smith announced he would reclassify from the class of 2018 to the class of 2017. A three-star recruit, Smith signed with UCLA after considering offers from Oregon, TCU, Michigan, Ohio State, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech.[3]
College career
The Los Angeles Times described Smith as "a 6-foot-9, 215-pound string bean" that "played his first slate of nonconference games for the Bruins at 17, sprinkling enticing potential atop a mound of mistakes."[1] He averaged 3.9 points and 1.9 rebounds per game as a freshman but struggled with turnovers.[4] In his sophomore season, Smith scored in double figures in his first five games but only reached double figures scoring in five of the remaining games.[1] As a sophomore, Smith averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game as a part-time starter, shooting 28.1 percent from behind the arc.[5]
During his junior year in 2019–20, Smith averaged 11.1 points per game during nonconference play as the Bruins went 7–6.[6] He improved his performance during the season, posting his first double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds on January 2, in a win against Washington followed by 22 points in a loss to Washington State.[7] Smith scored a career-high 30 points on January 31, in a 72–68 win against Colorado.[8] Smith led UCLA in scoring with 13.1 points per game as well as averaging 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He helped the Bruins finish second in the Pac-12 Conference and was named first-team All-Pac-12 as well as the conference's most improved player.[6] Following the season, he declared for the 2020 NBA draft.[9]
Career statistics
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
College
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017–18 | UCLA | 33 | 0 | 13.1 | .439 | .179 | .585 | 1.9 | .5 | .2 | .2 | 3.9 |
2018–19 | UCLA | 33 | 12 | 19.6 | .405 | .281 | .719 | 3.7 | 1.3 | .4 | .3 | 6.3 |
2019–20 | UCLA | 31 | 26 | 28.3 | .458 | .341 | .840 | 5.4 | 1.6 | 1.0 | .4 | 13.1 |
Career | 97 | 38 | 20.2 | .438 | .295 | .751 | 3.6 | 1.1 | .5 | .3 | 7.7 |
References
- ^ a b c Bolch, Ben (February 19, 2020). "UCLA has prospered from Chris Smith's focus on what's next instead of what happened". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ Johns, Les (December 12, 2016). "Chris Smith on Jayhawk offer". 247 Sports. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ "UCLA Lands 6th Commit For 2017 Class in Chris Smith". Slam. February 17, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (October 17, 2018). "UCLA basketball turns to Chris Smith at backup point guard after injury". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ Davis, Seth (March 9, 2020). "Hoop Thoughts: End-of-season awards, Wisconsin's turnaround, my top 25 and more". The Athletic. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ a b "Chris Smith Named All-Pac −12 First Team, Most Improved". 247 Sports. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ Bolch, Ben (January 8, 2020). "UCLA's Chris Smith is getting more confident and it's showing on court". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ "UCLA defeats No. 20 Colorado 72–68 behind Smith's 30 points". ESPN. Associated Press. January 31, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ Givony, Jonathan (April 7, 2020). "UCLA junior Chris Smith enters NBA draft". ESPN. Retrieved April 7, 2020.