Persistence pays off for Dillingham's Smeaton

May 25th 2:00 pm | Van Williams    

Once she zeroed in on Southern Oregon University as her No. 1 college choice, Kristin Smeaton attacked the situation the same way she attacked a defense on the basketball court.

With a relentless drive, she put herself in the right place at the right time and eventually scored.

This time it was an opportunity to play college basketball.

The 5-foot-6, all-state guard out of Dillingham High School has signed her National Letter of Intent with Southern Oregon University, a four-year NAIA school in Ashland, Ore. She will enroll as a freshman this fall and have four seasons of eligibility with the women's basketball team.

"I originally was going to go walk-on and see what happens," Smeaton said. "But since I went down there and met with the coach, he knew I was dedicated.

"By the end of our visit he said he would hold me a spot. Then I gave him a video of me playing and the next day he said he'd give me a letter of intent."

"It worked out," she laughed.

Smeaton is a steel of a recruit, a below-the-radar player who should surprise opponents with her desire, leadership and scoring touch.

She averaged 19.3 points as a senior with Dillingham, leading the Lady Wolverines the Western Conference championship and a berth to the ASAA Class 3A state tournament.

In the regional championship game, she pumped in 25 points to help No. 4 Dillingham stun No. 1 Barrow 59-55.

"This was by far the best season I've ever had," Smeaton said.

In addition to being an all-state basketball player, she also earned all-state honors in volleyball and won two bronze medals at the Native Youth Olympics in the one-arm reach and seal hop.

She makes athletics look easy, an act that will be tough to follow at the college level.

But she's up for the challenge.

Smeaton compared Dillingham coach Levi Duca - the coach of the year - to her college coach Lynn Kennedy.

She said both men expect hard work and give nothing for free.

"They both talk a lot about commitment," Smeaton said. "They both have the same mentality: you have to earn it."

Smeaton picked Southern Oregon University over opportunities at other schools such as the University of Idaho, Baldwin-Wallace College and Highline College.

"My family would talk about me playing college basketball all the time, but I never really thought about it because we don't get much exposure in Alaska," she said.

Smeaton credited last summer's Lower 48 tour with the Alaska Ice, an AAU team comprised of largely kids from rural Alaska. It was that in addition to the AABC Senior All-Star Game that gave Smeaton the chance to play in front of college coaches.

Pretty soon, they were calling her.

"I never thought that would happen," she confessed.

Yet it did.

Reach Van Williams at sports@reportalaska

com.

 

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