Kianna Smith
Smith with California in 2019
Personal information
Born (1999-06-10) June 10, 1999 (age 24)
Moreno Valley, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican / South Korean
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Career information
High school
College
WNBA draft2022: 2nd round, 16th overall pick
Selected by the Los Angeles Sparks
Playing career2022–present
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
Career history
2022Los Angeles Sparks
2022–presentSamsung Life Blueminx
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com

Kianna Smith (born June 10, 1999) is an American-South Korean professional basketball free agent in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the California Golden Bears and the Louisville Cardinals. Smith graduated from Troy High School in Fullerton, California, where she was rated a five-star recruit by ESPN and earned McDonald's All-American honors.

Early life and high school career

Smith was born in Moreno Valley, California on June 10, 1999.[1][2] She grew up playing against her older brother, Jamal, in their backyard, which she credits to her development as a basketball player.[3] She played basketball for John W. North High School in Riverside, California before transferring to Troy High School in Fullerton, California for her junior season.[4] Her school was located across the street from California State University, Fullerton, where her father served as associate head coach of the men's basketball team and Jamal played for the team. Due to the proximity of Cal State Fullerton, Smith often worked out with the men's team at Titan Gym after school.[3]

She averaged 15 points per game as a junior at Troy, and received Orange County Register All-County First Team honors.[4] As a senior, Smith averaged 21.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, about four assists and three steals per game, helping her team reach the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Open Division semifinals. She was named Orange County Register Player of the Year and won the John R. Wooden Award as the top player in the CIF Southern Section Division I.[5][6] Smith was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game.[7] She competed for West Coast Premier on the Amateur Athletic Union circuit alongside Kennedy Burke and Destiny Littleton.[8][9]

Recruiting

Smith was considered a five-star recruit and the fifth-best guard in the 2017 class by ESPN.[10] She committed to play college basketball for California under head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, becoming the program's first commit of her class.[11] In November 2016, Smith signed her National Letter of Intent with California.[12]

College career

Smith (left) with Louisville at the Final Four of the 2022 NCAA tournament

On November 24, 2017, Smith recorded 17 points and 12 assists for California in an 87–66 win against Manhattan.[13] She was named National Freshman of the Week by the United States Basketball Writers Association after posting 14 points, eight assists and four rebounds in a 62–52 victory over Kentucky on December 21.[14] At the first round of the NCAA Division I Tournament on March 16, 2018, Smith recorded a season-high 20 points and eight assists in a 68–62 loss to Virginia.[15] As a freshman, Smith averaged 8.6 points and 4.8 assists per game, earning Pac-12 All-Freshman honors.[16] On February 8, 2019, she scored a sophomore season-high 20 points in a 105–82 loss to third-ranked Oregon.[17] She averaged 9.8 points per game as a sophomore.[16]

Following her sophomore season, Smith transferred to Louisville, and sat out for one season as a redshirt due to NCAA transfer rules. She was drawn to Louisville because of head coach Jeff Walz's history of developing Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) players, to learn from future professional players on the team and to contend for a national title.[18] During her redshirt year, Smith was a member of the scout team and regularly played one-on-one against Jazmine Jones.[19] Before her junior season, she was appointed a team co-captain with Dana Evans.[20] Smith missed the first two games of the season with an illness, but made her Louisville debut on December 4, 2020. During the game, she recorded a season-high 21 points, six rebounds and six assists in a 116–75 win against DePaul.[19] On February 11, 2021, she scored 21 points again in an 85–70 win against Georgia Tech.[21] Smith helped guide her team to a runner-up finish at the 2021 ACC tournament and made the all-tournament first team.[22] As a junior, she averaged 11.4 points and 2.2 assists per game.[23] Smith assumed a leading role for Louisville as a senior with the graduation of Evans.[24] On December 16, she scored a career-high 22 points, shooting 5-of-7 from three-point range, in an 82–38 win against Eastern Kentucky.[25] Smith helped Louisville reach the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. As a senior, she averaged 12 points, three rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.[2]

Professional career

Smith was selected in the second round, with the 16th overall pick, in the 2022 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks.[26] Following the preseason, she was waived by the Sparks on May 4.[27] Smith returned to the team on July 4 after signing a seven-day hardship contract.[28] She played in two games and re-signed with the Sparks on another seven-day contract on July 26.[29] On August 2, Smith signed with the team for the rest of the season.[30] As a rookie, she averaged 2.6 points and shot 31.4 percent from the field in 10.3 minutes per game.[31] Smith was traded on January 16, 2023, to the Connecticut Sun.[32]

On September 16, 2022, Smith was selected with the first pick in the Women's Korean Basketball League (WKBL) draft by Samsung Life Blueminx.[33] She made her debut on November 1, posting 21 points, five assists and four rebounds in an 85–69 win over Bucheon Hana 1Q. Smith set the rookie single-game scoring record in her first game.[34]

WNBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2022 Los Angeles 11 0 10.3 .314 .278 1.000 0.8 0.5 0.4 0.0 0.4 2.6
Career 1 year, 1 team 11 0 10.3 .314 .278 1.000 0.8 0.5 0.4 0.0 0.4 2.6

Personal life

Smith is the daughter of Kelly and John Smith.[2] Her mother is South Korean and her father, who is American,[33] serves as head men's basketball coach at Cal Poly and played collegiately at UNLV and Dominican University of California.[35] Her older brother, Jamal, played basketball for Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly before turning professional,[36] and she has a younger sister, Kylee.[3] Smith's grandfather, Fred "Lucky" Smith, was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1968 NBA draft following a college career at Hawaii.[2][37] Her uncle, Steve, served as an assistant coach for the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Kianna Smith". WNBA. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Kianna Smith – Women's Basketball". University of Louisville Athletics. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Okanes, Jonathan (December 13, 2017). "Running In The Family". California Golden Bears Athletics. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Connolly, Kenny (April 4, 2016). "All-County girls basketball: First team". Orange County Register. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  5. ^ Parker, Ben (April 28, 2017). "Kianna Smith talks Wooden Award". GoldenBearReport. Rivals. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  6. ^ Connolly, Kenny (April 3, 2017). "Troy's Kianna Smith is the Register's 2016-17 girls basketball player of the year". Orange County Register. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  7. ^ Parker, Ben (March 27, 2017). "Kianna Smith is excited to represent Cal in McDonald's All-American Game". GoldenBearReport. Rivals. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Fader, Mirin (December 27, 2016). "Troy's Kianna Smith morphs into one of nation's top recruits". Orange County Register. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  9. ^ "Cal signee Kianna Smith has big goals for McDonald's All American Game". USA Today High School Sports. February 2, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  10. ^ "Kianna Smith 2017 High School Girls' Basketball Profile". ESPN. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  11. ^ Parker, Ben (May 17, 2016). "Kianna Smith talks commitment to Cal". GoldenBearReport. Rivals. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  12. ^ Parker, Ben (November 15, 2016). "Kianna Smith and Alaysia Styles talk about officially signing with Cal". GoldenBearReport. Rivals. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  13. ^ "Thomas, No. 21 Cal women set marks for 3s, top Manhattan". ESPN. Associated Press. November 24, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  14. ^ "Vivians, Smith are USBWA Women's National, Freshman Players of the Week". United States Basketball Writers Association. December 27, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  15. ^ Parker, Ben (March 16, 2018). "Cal falls to Virginia in NCAA Tournament". GoldenBearReport. Rivals. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  16. ^ a b Demling, Jody (July 5, 2020). "Kianna Smith brings versatility to Louisville's backcourt". Cardinal Authority. 247Sports. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  17. ^ Parker, Ben (February 9, 2019). "Recap: Cal falls to Oregon amid record setting night for Kristine Anigwe". GoldenBearReport. Rivals. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  18. ^ Robinson, Cameron Teague (January 29, 2021). "Why Kianna Smith bet on herself to fight for a spot at No. 1 Louisville over staying at Cal". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Crawford, Eric (December 4, 2020). "Record offensive night carries No. 5 Louisville women past No. 20 DePaul, 116-75". WDRB. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  20. ^ Draut, Sam (June 10, 2020). "Kianna Smith sees support at Louisville, leads as a co-captain". Louisville Report. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  21. ^ Graves, Gary (February 11, 2021). "Evans Leads No. 3 Louisville Past Georgia Tech on Senior Night". University of Louisville Athletics. Associated Press. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  22. ^ "Pack to Pack! NC State Women Again Wear ACC Tourney Crown". Atlantic Coast Conference. March 7, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  23. ^ Evans, Nick (October 26, 2021). "Kianna Smith Named to 2022 Meyers-Drysdale Award Watch List". University of Louisville Athletics. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  24. ^ Robinson, Cameron Teague (November 3, 2021). "Kianna Smith ready to show a complete offensive game this season for Louisville basketball". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  25. ^ Graves, Gary B. (December 17, 2021). "Kianna Smith keys No. 6 Louisville to rout of Eastern Kentucky". The Courier-Journal. Associated Press. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  26. ^ McGavic, Matthew (April 11, 2022). "Los Angeles Sparks Select Kianna Smith in Second Round of 2022 WNBA Draft". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  27. ^ Swanson, Mirjam (May 4, 2022). "Sparks waive Te'a Cooper, Arella Guirantes and Kianna Smith". Orange County Register. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  28. ^ "Los Angeles Sparks Sign Kianna Smith to 7-Day Contract". sparks.wnba.com. Los Angeles Sparks. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  29. ^ "Los Angeles Sparks Re-Sign Kianna Smith to 7-Day Contract". sparks.wnba.com. Los Angeles Sparks. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  30. ^ "Los Angeles Sparks Sign Kianna Smith to Rest of Season Contract". Los Angeles Sparks. August 2, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  31. ^ "Kianna Smith WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  32. ^ "Sparks Acquire Guard Jasmine Thomas". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  33. ^ a b Yun, So-hyang (September 17, 2022). "Kianna Smith joins Blueminx after topping 2022 WKBL rookie draft". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  34. ^ Yun, So-hyang (November 1, 2022). "Kianna Smith takes MVP honors in debut WKBL game". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  35. ^ "John Smith – Head Coach – Men's Basketball Coaches". Cal Poly Athletics. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  36. ^ "Jamal Smith Player Profile, Cilicia BC Yerevan, News, Stats". Eurobasket. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  37. ^ "1968 NBA Draft". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 28, 2021.

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