The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN pro basketball player Kentwan Smith is on the move again as he signed with a new club in a new country to continue his career.

Smith agreed to terms with BK Levicki Patrioti of the Slovak Extraliga (SBL) - the top level of basketball in Slovakia. Last season they finished fourth in the standings with a 26-14 record in the SBL.

The 6'8", 26-year-old forward spent last season with Finnish club, BC Nokia of the Korisliiga - the top level of basketball in Finland.

He appeared in just 22 games into the season and left the team in January. In Finland he posted averages of eight points, 4.4 rebounds and one assist per game.

Smith's previous stop this year was as a member of Fuerza Guinda de Nogales in Mexican CIBACOPA. In 12 games he averaged 9.9 points and 5.3 rebounds but left the team in May.

In his first season as a pro, Smith was an impact player for his BC Timisoara Club in Romania's Liga National.

On the season, he averaged 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while shooting 63 per cent from the floor despite being sidelined for the last six games.

The Liga National is the top-tier professional basketball league of Romania.

At the national team level, Smith was a member of the Bahamas' national team that finished 7th at this summer's FIBA Centrobasket tournament in Panama. They earned qualification for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games. He has also represented Bahamas at the CBC Championships in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. The list of the past achievements is quite long as among others he played in the final of A-Sun Tournament in 2014.

Smith was also voted All-A-Sun 2nd Team in 2015 at his college time. He looks to continue his momentum in the pro ranks after a successful collegiate with Stetson University.

Smith, a Grand Bahamian native, finished with the best season of his career in his senior year and was named to the A-Sun second-team all-conference. He averaged 13.8 points per game and a conference leading 6.8 rebounds per game. He shot 52 per cent from the field, 32 per cent from three, 69 per cent from the line and added 1.5 blocks per game. Smith scored in double-figures 22 times this season and has six double-doubles.

He ranked second in the conference with 45 blocked shots, the seventh-highest season total in school history.

The son of son of Debbie and Kenneth Smith, he spent his local high school career with the St George's Jaguars before relocating to Piney Woods High in Mississippi.

At Piney Woods he was rated by HoopScoop as the no.12 ranked player in the state as a senior when he led them to the Mississippi 2A state championship and earned second-team all-metro honours from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.