College Andrew Smith (basketball, born 1990)

andrew smith (left, dark uniform) battles connecticut s alex oriakhi opening tip during 2011 national championship game.

following graduation of howard , departure of shelvin mack play in nba, butler struggled during smith s junior year. smith, however, continued put solid numbers. recorded 2 double-doubles, 1 against chattanooga , 1 against oakland city, , had game-winning tip-in shot against purdue. @ loyola, grabbed career-high 13 rebounds. @ milwaukee, recorded 4 assists , 4 steals, both career highs. in first round of horizon league tournament, smith scored career high 25 points, hitting career best 12 of 14 free throws, , recording 7 rebounds. butler failed make ncaa tournament, instead playing in college basketball invitational (cbi). in semi-finals of cbi, smith scored 19 points , grabbed 6 rebounds. season, led team in scoring 10.9 points per game. emerged 3-point field goal threat, making 19 of 54 attempts after attempting 1 3-pointer previous year. overall, smith made 52.5% of field goal attempts , 64.3% of free throws.

during off-season, head coach brad stevens asked smith take on new role – vocal leader. role did not fit smith s natural personality, embraced nonetheless. entering 2012–13 season, smith active college player had played in 2 final fours. started 35 games during year, sitting out 1 game injury. facing reigning atlantic 10 defensive player of year, st. joseph s c. j. aiken, smith scored 24 points , grabbed 10 rebounds. recorded double-doubles @ northwestern , @ massachusetts. week of january 14, named atlantic 10 player of week part in back-to-back road victories. @ massachusetts on march 7, smith became 11th player in butler history surpass 1,000 points , 600 rebounds. in lone game missed, butler upset @ home charlotte, underscoring smith s importance team. butler returned ncaa tournament, , smith recorded 14 points , 16 rebounds against bucknell in round of 64. 16 rebounds represented both career-high smith , butler tournament record. in round of 32, scored 17 , grabbed game-high 8 rebounds. butler trailing 2 in final seconds, smith got ball attempt game winning 3 stumbled , did not off shot.

smith led team in rebounding season (6.1 per game) , led butler in rebounding 13 times. second in scoring, averaging 11.3 points. made 49.6% of shot attempts , 71.8% of free throws. defensively, smith had strong games against future nba players cody zeller, kelly olynyk, , mike muscala. named atlantic 10 all-academic team, , selected second team academic all-american. second team senior class award selection, recognizing achievement in athletic competition, character, academics, , community involvement.

smith finished butler career 5th all-time on schools list of games played (134), 12th in rebounding (648), , 25th in points scored (1,147). played in 11 ncaa tournament games, tied 6th on butler s all-time list. scored 73 points in games, enough fifth place all-time, , grabbed 65 rebounds, second ever. smith 1 of 3 butler players, along howard , joel cornette, amass more 100 wins , more 1,000 points in career. smith called butler experience gets , remarked know i’ve received great education me in future , i’ve had great basketball career success we’ve had. it’s kind of been win-win me , have lot of great opportunities coming out of school. added experience prepared him pro career: played every single team can in 4 years there. contended of them. [so, ] know can play .

smith had finished butler classes february 2013. in between finishing classes , graduation in may, interned @ butler business accelerator, consulting pharmaceutical , financial service businesses. previously, interned venture capital firm during summer of 2012. smith graduated in may degree in finance.